OVID.tv Presents MARTIN ROUMAGNAC Film Review

A boxer falls, kissing the canvas. The crowd chants as his knees tremble under the pressure. The opposing boxer watches from the corner of the ring while the referee counts down the seconds. The arena is packed with men and women dressed in their casual wear, sitting in rows puffing on their cigarettes. Tensions rise as they wait for the downed fighter to return, but as he reaches out toward the bright ceiling lights, he collapses to the ground again. A winner is announced, and the crowd roars, their cheers surging through the smoked-filled hall. The fighters have put on a show, but there can only be one winner. The camera follows the defeated boxer as he exits the arena, but then, it suddenly fixates on a woman. Her name is Blanche, and she attracts the gazes of men and women with her floral hat, fur mink, and four-leaf clover pin.

Onlookers from afar admire her elegant figure, but they conclude her beauty is no match for them. The films’ title character however, smitten though he too might be, quickly becomes entwined with this beauty through happenstance.

Martin Roumagnac is a building contractor living with his younger sister in a small rural town on the east side of France. He is content with life, until he meets Blanche Ferrand, a widowed store owner who lives with her uncle.

OVID.tv Presents a Film About The Price of Love

It’s not just Martin but also a wealthy man of high status that courts Blanche. Though we see how happy Blanche is as she frolics through the streets of Paris, we also see how she warms to Martin’s humble efforts at courting her

Which of these suitors will make her happy? The one whose wealth can keep her in the finer things of life she is drawn to? Or, plain spun Martin?

“What is happiness?” she, and we, wonder.

This dilemma becomes the core of the film as we watch Blanche struggle to decide between what she wants and what she needs. Martin Roumagnac begs the question of what is worth more: love or status? No spoiler here! Suffice it to say that in this writer’s opinion, those seeking an answer to this question will similarly find the movie’s climactic ending satisfying and thought-provoking.

Audiences who enjoy their romance stories with a bit of social commentary will enjoy this film immensely.