Review of Jean de Florette (1986) by Pj P — 05 Feb 2011

For ages I was put off watching this movie because of the 1930s style artwork cover of the DVD (and you like to think you're above such things) and its post WWI Provencal setting (Provence, For God's sake!). I'm also suspicious of nostalgic costume dramas which I suspect of reinterpreting that bit of the past which is, just, within living memory - a sickly misplaced nostalgia. But I got over it and sat down to watch one of France's most admired (fairly) recent movies.

Bloody brilliant! Although the excellent Gerard Depardieu's role as the optimistic and tragic hunchback Jean Cadoret, 'Jean de Florette' is sadly undermined by the film's inability to persuade that it is something other than just a pillow strapped to his back. A much more convincing prosthetic was Daniel Auteuil's false nose, rendering him very difficult to recognize and enhancing a brilliantly played part as the dim-witted Ugolin Soubeyran, back from the army. Best of all though is Yves Montand as Cesar Soubeyran, Ugolin's ruthless, scheming and manipulative uncle, patriarch of an old rich peasant dynasty of which these two are the last survivors.

I don't quite see why Jean needs to be a hunchback to make him more tragic. It is surely sufficiently disadvantageous to be a townie, ex tax inspector, and quite enough to alienate him sufficiently from the locals, to prevent them from giving that tiny bit of help, a key bit of information, which would avert the tragedy which looms, but that what's in Marcel Pagnol's novel (which I have not read).

Claude Berri's movie is the first part of a duology and is clearly incomplete on its own. You're likely to share my uneasy awareness that this is designer epic stuff. You're also likely to be aware that you're watching a truly great movie. I couldn't wait to watch the second part, 'Manon des Sources', and didn't for long.