The Ideal Palace – a true story of love and tragedy

What makes this poignant French film so moving is its authenticity.

The true story of Cheval – a humble postman with a huge dream – The Ideal Palace delivers on so many fronts.

Despite a number of huge setbacks – including the tragic loss of his first wife to a fever – Jacques Gamblin plays Cheval (1836-1924) with absolute integrity and amazing resourcefulness.

As a country postman working in the valleys alongside the beautiful French Alps, Cheval is obsessed with the idea of building a lasting monument to his daughter Alice: the product of his second wife Philomene, played by Laetitia Casta.

Cheval begins his labour of love in 1879, and as the audience is drawn more and more into Cheval’s world, the film highlights trhe postman’s stubbornness and will to succeed, which never falters.

Perhaps it is Cheval’s inherent inability to communicate and, in some respects, to reciprocate the love he receives from others, that gives him the need to express his feelings in a more concrete form.

Whatever the reason, it is incredible that in more than 33 years of delivering the mail on his long (30-plus km) postal round, he is also able to collect the rocks and building materials necessary to build the palace.

It is also testament to Cheval’s resilience that he can build such a magnificent and spectacular edifice in his spare time, i.e. in the evenings and on weekends.

Cheval is not only completely untrained but also quite hermit like – at first shunning the journalists and other interested parties that have heard about the memorial and want to let the rest of the world know.

After a while though, even he cannot stop the tide of publicity and he becomes quite well-known around France as a somewhat weird and odd character with an amazing project.

A good example of this eccentricity was Cheval’s wish to be buried in his Ideal Palace.

Unfortunately, the authorities would not allow this and so in true Cheval-like fashion he set to work building his own mausoleum alongside the palace, and got his wish that way.

Directed by filmmaker Nils Tavernier, the cinematography in The Ideal Palace is also magnificent – showcasing the spectacular alpine region in the South-east Drome area of France in all its splendour.

The Ideal Palace commences on Thursday December 12 at Luna Leederville, Luna SX and Camelot Outdoor.

By Mike Peeters