” MANON DES SOURCES “…Film Review
(”JEAN DE FLORETTE “…..starring yves montand+gerard depardieu-a bittersweet rural tragedy in 3 acts…hunchback inherits farm only to be swindled of its real water supply…hot+dusty in southern france,loud crickets+thunder with no rain…each scene,each bit of dialogue is so succinct+reverberating(have to see sequel to find out why)-hint-very dickensian plot—gerard,young,idealistic+faithful only to be undone by fate,obsession+his scheming neighbours…@ open window,harmonica+operatic aria from wife possibly sweetest scene in motion pictures… )
PEDRO’S WORLD OF CINEMA
Manon des Sources
France 1986
director claude berri
from the novels by marcel pagnol
yep,sequel to jean de florette…gerard depardieu is long dead+buried…the scheming soubeyrans are running a successful carnation nursery with the farm’s abundant springwater…all is rosy ,but is it?….a handsome young teacher meets a wild,beautiful goatherd,long limbed+mysterious….
ugolin(daniel auteil),the dimwitted soubeyran,also falls in love with the girl but he knows it is manon,the grown up daughter of the man he swindled the farm from…he makes 2 of the most cringeworthy declarations of love in world cinema,1 private on the wild hillside+1 public in front of the village elders as “the house of cards” ,made from deceit+lies come crashing down…
the girl,(played by a young emmanuelle beart),exacts terrible revenge on the whole town,as they were complicit in not helping her father find the truth about his spring,by upon discovering the actual source of all the region’s water,bloody well blocking it off….can the priest+procession receive a miracle?…will there be unexpected news “straight out of a dickens novel”?…
will any witnesses come forward?…did auteil really sew her hair ribbon straight through his nipple? yes he did,no CGI here…can the goatherd change her mind+save the town?…
***** outta 5
what do you think?
(these 2 films have always resonated deeply with me as i grew up in the dry,dusty countryside of the limestone plains,near canberra…father was a gardener+opera lover,water was scarce…we caught wild rabbits,went spotlighting,roamed the countryside)