L'incroyable histoire du facteur Cheval (2018)

Ferdinand Cheval, also known as Joseph, is a reserved and solitary man. The film begins in 1869, when he has recently been appointed a postman in Hauterives. His postmaster, who is genuinely fond of him, sets aside illustrated postcards that are illegible and whose intended recipients the postal service has been unable to identify. Ferdinand’s first tragedy is the death of his first wife, Rose, and his separation from his son Cyrille, who is about ten years old. His family considers him unfit to take responsibility for the boy. Later, on his rounds, he meets Philomène, a young widow who lives on a nearby farm and whom he eventually marries. Ferdinand remains distant and dreamy, but he knows how to knead dough (he explains that he was apprenticed to a baker), and his wife loves him as he is. In 1879, a daughter named Alice is born to them. Although at first Ferdinand remains a rather distant father, much to Philomène’s distress, he eventually grows attached to her. Meanwhile, on one of his rounds through the Drôme countryside, the postman trips over a stone and tumbles down a steep slope, narrowly escaping breaking his neck. He also loses half his mail, which he eventually manages to retrieve. Intrigued by what caused his fall, Ferdinand goes back to the site of the accident and digs up a large stone, the cause of his fall. Struck by its unusual shape, he decides to take it home. From then on, an incredible project takes shape in his mind: to build a huge palace from stones found on his rounds and bound together with mortar, which he will dedicate to his daughter. Come snow, wind, or rain, the postman sets out in search of unusual stones and, year after year, works on his creation under Alice’s watchful eyes. She stands up for her father when the village children mock him and call him mad. Some time later, his son Cyrille, who has completed his training as a tailor, comes to visit and meets his little sister. Despite his reserved manner, Ferdinand is moved to see his son again after being separated from him for years. Then, one day in 1894, the postman takes a serious fall from his scaffolding and is confined to bed. He then realizes that his daughter is gravely ill. She dies later that year, leaving him in such pain that the postman cries out in despair when he sees that she is dead. He insists on placing her body in the basement of the palace, which is not yet finished, but the mayor explains that the law of the Republic strictly forbids it. In rage and frustration, Cheval overturns the mayor’s desk. Alice is therefore buried in the village cemetery. Some time later, Cyrille decides to settle in Hauterives with his wife and their daughters, Eugénie and Alice, bringing the postman a little joy again. He decides to resume the work he had set aside after the death of his only daughter. Over time, the palace becomes famous. At first it is known in the region (a journalist from Romans-sur-Isère had already come when Alice was alive), but now people throughout France begin talking about his creation. The palace is nearly complete, and Cyrille comes to visit his father with his daughters. Finally happy, Ferdinand calls out Alice’s name, causing those around him to grow worried, but the postman is only calling for his granddaughter, who is playing at the top of the palace. A photographer even comes to capture the work, and postcards are to be published. Misfortune returns to Ferdinand when two more deaths bring him grief: first his son Cyrille, then his wife Philomène. Very ill and confined to a chair, his wife asks whether she is going to die. The postman answers her plainly, but not unkindly, as if stating the obvious, that yes, she is going to die… After these two deaths, and knowing he will not be allowed to be buried beneath his palace, the postman decides to build his own tomb, inspired by his ideal palace, in the cemetery of his own village. One day, his granddaughter Alice, who had once expressed a wish to hold her wedding in the palace, introduces him to her fiancé and asks her grandfather whether he will come to her wedding. He replies by asking what time the ceremony is. The film’s final images show Alice’s wedding celebration taking place just in front of the Ideal Palace, as the postman, now in his eighties, watches the guests dance, including many children. Then, with sorrow and joy mingling within him, Ferdinand sees, beyond the image of his granddaughter Alice, a vision of his own daughter Alice, who comes to invite him to dance.