In association with

Jean De Florette [1986]
from Pathe Distribution
starring Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu, Margarita Lozano
directed by Claude Berri

Features:

• Letterboxed
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

A truly impressive French film destined to become a modern masterpiece, Jean de Florette is an evocative adaptation of the highly regarded French novel. Two 1920's farmers engage in a bitter rivalry as one tries to tend to a plot of land and the other deviously undermines his efforts in order to conceal a valuable spring. The peasant farmer (Gérard Depardieu) who comes to the countryside to tend the land he has inherited is a naive and trusting soul seeking only to provide for his wife and daughter, while his neighbour (Yves Montand) is intent on doing whatever he can to discourage and demoralise the farmer so that he can take the land for himself. This simple tale unfolds in a wrenching fashion to a tragic conclusion, bringing forth questions about human nature and the prevalence and price of greed. Along with its follow-up, Manon des Sources, this film will leave an indelible impression on anyone who sees it. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

• not the book...
  Pretty good as a film - but a bit po-faced. Watching it, you'd never guess that the original book is actually very funny.

• Wonderful!
  I think this sad tale is based on a Moroccan true story of a man from Ain Asserdoun, who found a cave which was the source of a gushing subterranean stream.
  He blocked it, and then found a way to start a (religious?) fund to encourage the deity to restore the water. He made a fortune.
  Not an exact analogy but I bet that Marcel Pagnol had read of this story.
  

• Engrossing and beautiful
  The only problem with this excellent film is that my French is not very good, so that I ended up reading the subtitles rather than listening to the dialogue. Having said this, it is beautifully photographed and very well acted. Gerard Depardieu is perhaps the best known actor, but all the cast are of an equally high standard, so that you end up being interested in the characters, not all of whom are conventionally 'sympathetic.' This is a very different world from any that I have ever lived in, but it is... more info

• A lovely hutchback...
  If you do not know anything about Pagnol and his wonderful books, here is a very easy and wonderful way to discover his universe. Pagnol mainly painted in his novels the quality of life from the South of France. Life is there very warm and full of colour of which pagnol manages to define and enhance the beauties. This movie is the story of a hutchback moving to the south of France in order to change his life and start a new business in the hills somewhere in provence where life flows nicely with in the... more info

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