''Le grand chemin'' is a 1987

French film The cinema of France comprises the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe, with prima ...

directed by

Jean-Loup Hubert Jean-Loup Hubert (born 4 October 1949) is a French director and screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. The ...

. It was released in the U.S. as ''The Grand Highway'', and was remade in 1991 as ''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

''. It won the

César Award for Best Actor This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actor (). History Superlatives Winners 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nominations The following individuals received two or more Best ...

and

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

Plot

Louis, a timid nine-year-old boy from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, spends his summer vacation in a small town in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. His mother Claire has lodged him with her girlfriend Marcelle and her husband Pelo while she is having her second baby. There Louis makes friends with Martine, the ten-year-old girl next door, and learns about life from her. His subsequent adventures run the gamut from delightful to terrifying, with a little "coming of age" (via a few glimpses of nudity) thrown in.

Cast

Richard Bohringer Richard Bohringer () is a French actor, singer, writer, and film director. He is the father of actresses Romane Bohringer and . Early life Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, France, to a French mother, Huguette Foucault and a German fathe ...

– Pelo *

Anémone Anne Bourguignon (; 9 August 1950 – 30 April 2019), known professionally as Anémone (), was a French actress, filmmaker and political activist. She took her stage name in 1968 from the title of her film debut in Philippe Garrel's ''Anémone ...

– Marcelle * Antoine Hubert – Louis *

Christine Pascal Christine Pascal (29 November 1953 – 30 August 1996) was a French actress, writer, and director known for '' Le Petit Prince a dit'', 1992. Biography Born in Lyon, Rhône, Pascal made her film debut at 21 in Michel Mitrani's ''Les Guichets du ...

– Claire *

Pascale Roberts Pascale Roberts (21 October 1930 – 26 October 2019) was a French film and television actress.Goble p. 471 She was a César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romant ...

– Yvonne * Vanessa Guedj – Martine

Production

''Le grand chemin'' was directed by

, and produced by Pascal Hommais and Jean Francois Lepetit. The film was released in the U.S. as ''The Grand Highway'', in French with English subtitles. Claude Lecomte served as director of photography, with camera operator Jean Paul Meurisse and film editor Raymonde Guyot. The musical score was composed by Georges Granier; the original soundtrack music was reissued in 2013 by Canadian label Disques Cinemusique.

Reception

and

won

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

for Best Actor and

. The film was nominated for

Best Foreign Language Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

of the year by the U.S.

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...

References

External links

* 1987 films 1987 drama films French drama films Films about children Films featuring a Best Actor César Award–winning performance Films featuring a Best Actress César Award–winning performance Films set in the 1950s Films set in 1959 Films set in Brittany 1980s French-language films 1980s French films {{1980s-France-film-stub