Product: Manon of the Spring (1987)
Rating: 5.0
The Carnations of Wrath, Part 2
Manon des Sources (1986) is the screen rendition of Part 2 of Marcel Pagnol's exquisite novel, L'eau des Collines (1963). It is the continuation of the story of Jean de Florette, concerning two competing projects, one carried-out by the city-dweller Jean Cadoret, and the other by the peasant Ugolin, set in the rustic and picturesque environment of Provence in the 1920sManon des Sources owes its success to Pagnol's particularly intelligent scenario. Taken verbatim from his novel of the same name, it was flawlessly adapted by Claude Berry and Gerard Brach, whose work consisted mainly in translating into images this impeccable scenario.As stated in my review of Jean de Florette, a good story must have a plot, a compelling conflict, and characters that we care about who change as a result of their experiences. This particular story qualifies unquestionably as a good one, on all these points.In Manon des Sources, the second chapter of his novel, Marcel Pagnol uses the same approach in his story that he did in Jean de Florette, posing questions and providing answers in a more or less convoluted, drawn-out way, the better to keep the viewer's suspense high.The first and most important question in this chapter concerns the soothing of our bad conscience following the less than satisfying conclusion of the preceding film. We feel perturbed for having resigned ourselves to accepting the outcome, the success of Ugolin's project, which we never totally rejected, at the expense of Jean's project, which we by now wish had succeeded. How will Pagnol liberate us from this disturbing feeling? We already know that he is not interested in introducing a Deus ex machina to discharge our anxiety. He will again proceed objectively, relying on the psychology of the different characters involved.The second question concerns the two new characters appearing on the scene: a grown- up Manon and Bernard Olivier, the school teacher. We hope that they will be the ones to provide us with a more satisfying resolution to the first chapter. But what is done is done, and the only liberation from our sense of guilt must be a plain, straightforward type of revenge on Ugolin and César for their crime. Will it be sweet and innocent Manon, or will Bernard offer a solution?When the perfidy of Cesar and Ugolin is finally exposed, our conscience is partially appeased by Ugolin's suicide. But Cesar's retribution will be more terrible yet, in what is one of the most dramatic endings of any film I have ever seen. Eventually, it is not certain that we applaud this ending either, as no matter how devious Ugolin and Cesar were, we cannot totally erase the positive feelings they and their project inspired in us at the beginning of the first film.For the interpretation of the three leading roles, film director Claude Berry chose three exceptional actors, each with a unique personality and film presence. In the role of Cesar we could not have imagined anyone other than Yves Montand, native of Marseille, a fabulous actor with more than sixty films on his resume, cabaret singer, and at one time candidate for France's presidency. This aging character of Cesar, cantankerous at times, a happy strapping fellow at other times, a sensitive and vulnerable human being, is Montand himself, and vice-versa. Gerard Depardieu is outstanding in his role of Jean, being both somewhat arrogant and, at the same time, poetic. As for Daniel Auteuil's performance, his attainment of the well-deserved Cesar for best actor in 1987 for these two films, says it all. Finally, Emmanuelle Beart, who also won a Cesar for best supporting actress in 1987, fills the role of Manon with grace.There are two additional brilliant "actors" in the films. First, there is the picturesque and harsh landscape of Provence. From the first minute of Jean de Florette until the end of Manon des Sources, we are seduced by the gorgeous images of the Provence countryside, and certainly by the love the director shows for Pagnol's work and the atmosphere it evokes. The second "actor" is the village itself, as portrayed through the different village characters, shown as little vignettes scattered throughout the films. All these characters bring much authenticity to the story.The themes of this film are the same as those for Jean de Florette: city versus the country, modern versus traditional, good versus bad, and memory versus oblivion.Pagnol's message is humanistic in so far as, without ridicule or Manichaeism, he presents the motivations and different points of view of each of his characters.On the same humanistic level, the story demonstrates that not withstanding apparent differences, such as social, regional or physical, all people are alike and deserve to be treated humanely. However, in that respect, Pagnol's philosophy is a little naive. The reconciliation of the villagers with their past wrongdoing toward Jean Cadoret, symbolized by the marriage of Manon, occurs only when they understand that Jean was actually "one of them." So the community of humans beyond differences that Pagnol proposes as an ideal only exists here because Jean "belonged" to the village. As such, according to Pagnol, the village life is idyllic, but for the eventual presence of harmful individuals such as Ugolin and Cesar.In spite of Pagnol's naive idealism, the films still succeed, because we are ultimately able to tie up all the loose ends, and to reconcile the warring factions through family and blood ties that transcend any geography.