Product: Jean de Florette (1987)
Rating: 5.0
Beautiful, Sad Tale of Rural Provence
It's difficult to be a big movie fan in America because most of the movies that get spoon fed to us through the media are American movies, and the vast majority of those--even those that come with good reviews--are predictable, unbelievable, and dull.It is such a great pleasure, therefore, to stumble across a film like this, which is smartly told, wonderful to look at, original, and unpredictable. Needless to say, it is not an American film.The first joy of this film is the cinematography. It takes place in Provence, in the rural, farming area of this region. Between the rolling hills and the flowers and the trees and the ancient-looking farmhouses, it is just lovely to look at. It is a place which seems to draw you in, like a beautiful dream. You find yourself wishing you could be there, to live there, to grow carnations or raise rabbits there, as the characters do. The soundtrack conveys this as well, with the always and ever present sound of bees and crickets and songbirds in the air. It is very evocative, and truly plays a part in the events of the plot as well.For the plot has to do with a man, a city-dweller, who inherits a farm in this area, and with his wife and young daughter, decides to make a go of it. He is, however, frustrated by his neighbor, who secretly covets the farm because of the spring on it he wishes to have for himself. The neighbor blocks up this spring before the city man arrives, in the hopes that he can drive him out for lack of water. This is the story. We watch as the city man relentlessly attempts to survive in this place with its neverending short supply of water, and knowing that the solution to his problems is on his own property. It is a sad, beautiful, heart-breaking tragedy.The acting all around is superb, but that of Depardieu, the city man, is magnificent. His indefatigable, cheerful optimism in the face of adversity is uplifting and infectious, enveloping his wife and child and ultimately ourselves. He refuses to give up: futilely digging wells, walking for miles daily in order to get water from a far away cistern, praying for rain in the darkness, and scheming with his wife to find ways to get money in order to make it for one more month, one more week, one more day. We empathize with him whole-heartedly, able to see, through the magic of cinema, the beauty of the place through his eyes.But alas, he loses. It almost comes as a shock, so used as we are to the typical, tie-up-the-loose-ends, sugar-coated, phony-baloney Hollywood ending. It seems very sad, and unfair, but unfortunately, life is often this way. It is greatly to this film's credit that it treats us as thinking adults, as opposed to childish adolescents on a roller-coaster ride. Very refreshing. By the way, I would disagree with those reviewers who feel it is necessary to see Manon of the Spring in order to appreciate this film. In my opinion, it works perfectly well on its own terms.