My Afternoons with Margueritte

Plot

Germain is a 45-year-old, illiterate handyman. As a child, he was bullied at school for being a slow reader, by both the teachers and other students. His mother kept reminding him that he was clumsy and an unwanted child, and did not give him much love. He is a loyal man, with a good heart. He lives in a trailer he parks close to his mother's house, where he cultivates a vegetable garden. He earns some extra money by selling his vegetables at the weekly farmers' market, borrowing a truck from the bar where he is a regular customer with his friends. His girl friend Annette is a younger woman who drives the local bus; she truly loves this sweet, simple and loving man.

One afternoon Germain meets Margueritte, a delicate, 95-year-old woman who sits on the same bench with him to feed pigeons. He has observed the 19 birds so often that he knows each and has named them. He sees that she is highly educated, and learns she had worked as a scientist with the

She tells him that her eyesight is gradually fading, and that she will soon no longer be able to walk unassisted. Germain decides to reverse roles and try to read to her, but first he must improve his reading skills. With Annette's support he learns to read a story aloud to Margueritte. Shortly thereafter, Germain finds his mother dead at home, and is distraught.

At the notary, he learns that his mother owned her house, which he had thought she rented. She had accumulated a sizeable fortune from strict saving, and always intended to bequeath that to him, but had never told him. Meanwhile, Annette announces she is pregnant. Germain had hesitated to have children, believing he could not offer them enough. Annette tells him not to worry: he can give love. When Margueritte is forced to leave her retirement home for a lesser one in Flanders, she puts aside her dictionary for Germain. He traces her down and brings her back to live with him at his mother's house. On their return, he reads her a poem written for her.

Cast