Jean de Florette

In the French countryside, the farmer Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand) welcomes his grandson Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) in his property that intends to plant carnation in the land, but they need a spring of water to cultivate the flowers. Cesar decides to buy the land of his lazy neighbor Martial that has a spring; however, they argue and fight and Cesar accidentally kills him. The nephew Jean Cadoret (Gerard Depardieu) that is a townsman and former fiscal inherits the real estate and moves with his wife Aimee (Elisabeth Depardieu) and his daughter Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna) with intention of living in the farm, cropping and raise rabbits based on readings. Cesar and Ugolin block and seal the spring with cement and Cesar asks Ugolin to get closer to Jean to sabotage his work. Jean, who is called Jean de Florette by the locals, slowly spends all his savings and inheritance and sacrifices his family to get water in a distant spring while the hypocrite Ugolin jeopardizes his efforts pretending to be his friend.

"Jean de Florette" is a heartbreaking epic of greediness and cruelty. I bought this VHS many years ago and only today I have watched this masterpiece of the French cinema (I have no words to tell how much I regret this). The impressive saga of Jean Cadoret a.k.a. Jean de Florette is engaging and supported by a magnificent story and awesome performances, highlighting Daniel Auteuil, Yves Montand and Gerard Depardieu. The characters are very well developed and Daniel Auteuil is impressive in the role of the contradictory character Ugolin. The scene when he tells to his grandfather that he is not crying but his eyes, is fantastic. Jean de Florette somehow recalled me the unforgettable Jean Valjean of "The Miserables", and his saga shows how unfair and cruel a human being can be. Tomorrow I will see the sequel "Manon des Sources". My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Jean de Florette"

I really enjoyed this movie and was worried the sequel, Manon of the Spring would be a letdown--so often, sequels just can't compare to the originals. However, I say watch this movie so you can really enjoy just how wonderful the sequel is! So my advice is to see this film and then rush out and see the follow-up film.

Considering that this film is from a script by the great Marcel Pagnol (who was responsible for many of the best French films), it's not at all surprising that this is a wonderful film. It's a sad and despicable story about greed. A man (Yves Montand) concocts a scheme to ruin an innocent man (Gérard Depardieu) and his family in order to force them off the land. It's even worse because the man and his family are so decent and deserve better. However, despite this being morally wrong, this plan was created because Montand wanted this land to remain in his family and be passed on to his descendants. Nice scheme, huh? The acting, writing, cinematography and pacing are superb--so good that I was EAGER to find the sequel. So, watch this movie and understand it only gets better in part 2!

The reason why I was watched this film is because I read both "la gloire de mon pere" and "la château de ma mere", two other books written by Marcel Pagnol, and I found them fascinating.

This film is a fabulous portrayal of one man's greed over another man's dream. The performances given in this film are mesmerising, from Depardieu's hunch back to Montand's le papet. Although this film is sublime, I think it would be a wise choice to see the following film, Manon des Sources, as it gives the whole story through both the films.

The film really goes to show how far some people will go to get what they want, whether it's le papet trying to secure a legacy for his family's name, or Jean de Florette trying to get his amazing ideas on farming to work.

Everything comes together so well in this film-the score, the storyline and the performances, something modern movie makers should take note of.

This is a marvel of story-telling. Rarely have I felt so much pain for a fictional character. The "force of destiny" (great sound track motif selection!) is nowhere as evidently crushing as in this movie. I'm astounded and stunned by the beauty of human suffering, not, of course, out of sadism but out of melancholy. Great, great movie (though the Southern French accent is very hard to understand).

Marcel Pagnol was rightly admitted into the Acadamie Francaise, just about the highest honor a French writer can receive. No less a major force than Orson Welles described Pagnol's own movie 'La Femme du Boulanger' (The Baker's Wife) as the greatest movie ever made. For someone with a limited canvas - Provence, its small hamlets, the port of Marseilles, and the people who lived there - he sure extracted the maximum mileage. Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Source has now arguably become the highest profile of all Pagnol's work eclipsing even the great trilogy 'Marius', 'Cesar' and 'Fanny' featuring the great Raimu, and his two autobiographical works My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle. It is very gratifying for someone with a healthy streak of cynicism in their makeup to read such glowing tributes to this movie. If French cinema NEEDED an ambassador, which it doesn't, then these two titles - shot back to back as Montand's wife, Simone Signoret, lay dying - could not be bettered. To add any superlatives to those already posted here would be superfluous so just let me say that Montand is at the top of his game and that is saying something. Superb entertainment with terrific ensemble playing. An all-time great. 11/10