Product: Jean de Florette (1987)
Rating: 5.0
Guy de Maupassant would have loved this
The acting--pick any of the three stars, Yves Montand, Gerard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil--is superb, and the supporting cast excellent. But what makes this and its sequel, Manon des Sources (1986), jewels of the French cinema is the story and the characterizations, which go hand in hand.There is genius in how naturally and almost inevitably the story unfolds. Although I haven't read the novel by Marcel Pagnol, I'm sure he's the genius. And this is not to slight Claude Berri's direction which is invisible and at the same time in total control, so that the film is simply a work of art. The characters are true to themselves, and what they do seems natural because of who they are. Jean Florette (Depardieu) fails because he puts too much faith in science, knowledge and the good will and fairness of his fellow man. (He should have listened to his suspicious wife!) Ugolin (Auteuil), whose selfishness and little guy envy lead him to do the harm that he does, is not a despicable character. We do not hate him the way Manon understandably does. He is a man of weakness who gave into greed. Papet (Montand), believes in the lineage of man, in property, money-all the standard burgher values. He is led to do his dirty deeds because of who he is.What is so, so superior in "Florette" compared to most movies is the lack of propaganda, the lack of adherence to some political or philosophic preconception. What shines forth is people living their lives and falling into some very human traps. I am reminded of Balzac and Guy De Maupassant in the depiction of the petit bourgeois life of the French peasantry and attendant psychology.