Review of Jean de Florette (1986) by Ryan M — 09 Jun 2010

A french version of "The Godfather" is an oddly apt description of this hugely popular foreign film which was nominated for 10 Baftas. There are no gangsters or horse's heads in a bed, but like the Godfather it tells an epic story (along with its sequel "Manon Des Sources") spread out over 3 generations, dealing with a variety of themes and features some great performances from great actors of their respective generations; Yves Montand plays the elderly Cesar Soubeyran in one of his last roles; Daniel Auteuil plays his simple minded nephew Ugolin and the hardest working frenchman in film Gerard Depardieu plays the titular character who inherits the house and land next door after his uncle Bouffigue suffers an "accident" at the hands of Cesar. Jean is a proud man from the city who arrives with his wife Aimee (played by Gerard's real life wife) and daughter Manon, determined to carve out a fruitful life in the countryside by using modern techniques learned from every manual and guide to farming. His presence is unwelcome for Cesar who wants his land because it contains a precious water spring that could bring in lots of money and water to help during the dry seasons. His plan is to block the spring to keep the price of the land small so when Jean De Florette is forced to leave he will sell it to them at a cheap price. To make sure he sells it to the Soubeyran's, Ugolin is manipulated into being good friends with Jean De Florette, who slowly comes to realise he may not be suited for a life in the country.

A lesser director would have played out every new development as a major shock, Claude Berri sets the plan in motion right at the start for Cesar and Ugolin and treats the outcome as an inevitability: Jean De Florette will not succeed in his venture and will give up the land, the only question is whether or not he will admit defeat and return to the city. Helping him leave are the rest of the townspeople, who look down on him because he's an outsider to their closed-off community, they don't want him there even though they suspect Cesar + Ugolin may be trying to force him to leave, but why would they try to protect an outsider at the risk of snooping in other people's business?

A social commentary on farmers who refuse to change their ways, a study on greed and its consequences, a guide on what-not-to-do when farming in France, "Jean De Florette" is all of these combined. It also helps that the cinematography brings the best out of the french countryside, that soundtrack has been used plenty of times before (Stella Artois) and there are plenty of things hinted at which will be addressed in the sequel, a brilliant drama which stands on its own as an exceptional film of the 80s, the sequel "Manon Des Sources" was filmed back-to-back with "Jean De Florette" and the two were released in the same year to great acclaim, it really has to be seen.