Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic, and there’s still no crying in baseball.

What is it to be an artist? that’s something this French animated feature is looking to find out as it explores the life of Marcel Pagnol. I didn’t know who that was. But, that’s OK. we can’t know everyone, and certainly not everything about them. In a year that also gave us a look into the making of Breathless, it would seem the spotlight is on French filmmakers.

This film goes an interesting route, finding Marcel in the twilight of his career, working on a memoir. He’s visited by the childhood version of himself, which starts to trigger his life story, including his rise to fame through art in various forms, including staged works and film. he really does seem to accomplish quite a bit, and the film squeezes it into a nice tight runtime.

the most effective part, at least for me, was the ending, which reminded me of Big Fish, and how one man’s fantastical journey that seemed too good to be true, is validated when he walks into all the faces from the people he met along the way. it is a great moment in big Fish, and it works equally well here, putting a nice bow on the narrative of the film.

I was surprised the film had audio description, which allowed me to side step any subtitles, and have a reference to what was happening on screen. However, while the film is animated and perhaps accessible for children, it really doesn’t push the heavy questions. It feels like a light complimentary biopic with an artist void of flaws at times.

A Magnificent Life is bold in scope, but ultimately reserved in detail. Still, it’s nice to see a celebration of a less fortunate artist just now getting their spotlight.

Fresh: 6.6/10