Manons Rache

I have been showing Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources in my French classroom for the past ten years. What I find most fascinating about this process is that for many of the students, it is their first experience in watching a foreign film with subtitles, and initially they are not too receptive to the experience. But very frequently, after having seen Jean de Florette ( I show it in first year French), they are so anxious to see what happens that they go and rent the sequel on their own and want to discuss it in class.

This film and its sequel are studies in human nature, in addition to being traveloges of some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. Some of the observations that the students have made about the characters is that they refer to the land and the water with reverential terms. The characters' downfalls are brought about usually because of their inability to accept their restrictions.

If you want two films to use in a French classroom where the scenery is beautiful, the dialogue is usually understandable and the storyline is acceptable to the general public (since we all have to answer to the school boards and the administration), these are the films to use. In addition, if you haven't seen them and you want to just lose yourself in two remarkable films just for the love of good films, these are the ones.

Whenever I'm tempted to give a movie that I liked a lot a "10" rating, I think of this and Jean de Florette (it's one long story arc). It's a rare film that comes up to this standard.

Strongly recommend that you rent them both at once; watch Jean de Florette on Friday or Saturday, and then watch Manon of the Spring the next day. Otherwise, Jean de Fleurette is just too damn depressing.

But whether apart or taken together, they are as fine a work of art as any of us can hope to ask for.

After spending 2 hours with Manon, I'm still in shock, but in a way I saw it coming. The film proves that greed only last for a certain time, but love and being a good person is what lasts forever. That's where happiness lies.

Our crimes pay, it will eventually catch up with you, and this picture tells us best.

I won't say anymore.

The picture is as amazing as the first, Jean de Florette.

Having adored Jean De Florette, of which Manon of the Spring(or Manon Des Sources) follows on from, I found this film every bit as amazing. Once again the cinematography shimmers and the scenery is some of the best I have seen in any film. There is also a haunting score, a compelling story and a genuinely moving script, and Berri's direction is paced perfectly to suit life under the scorching sun. The performances are every bit as impressive, Emmanuelle Beart is alluring and very believable, and Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil are once again outstanding, particularly Auteuil when he tries to atone. Overall, an amazing and I think poignant film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is my favourite French movie of all time. The cycle of life and death, as symbolized at the wedding at the end while one of the characters visits the cemetary, is so poetically portrayed in this movie. Nobody is crudely and simply drawn here--you understand motivation, human nature, and the capacity for both good and evil that exists in all of us. The film would also be an excellent travelogue of Provence, and its slow, deliberate pacing enables you to envelop yourself in a story that unveils itself in its own sweet time. Even though Daniel Auteil's character was supposed to be evil, his love for Manon was so heartbreakingly portrayed you couldn't help but feel for him. And of course what can be said about Yves Montand--he can say more with one raised eyebrow on that great wrinkled face than Bruce Willis can mumble in an entire movie...the highest recommendation for both Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring