Manon des sources (1986)

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (adaptation)
Gérard Brach (adaptation)

Release Date:

December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her her father's land caused his death years earlier.

Plot Keywords:

Spring | Shepherdess | Water | Revenge | Rural

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yves Montand	...	Cesar Soubeyran dit Le Papet
Daniel Auteuil	...	Ugolin
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Manon (as Emmanuelle Beart)
Hippolyte Girardot	...	Bernard Olivier
Margarita Lozano	...	Baptistine
Yvonne Gamy	...	Delphine
Ticky Holgado	...	Le Spécialiste (as Tiki Olgado)
Jean Bouchaud	...	Le Curé
Elisabeth Depardieu	...	Aimee Cadoret
Gabriel Bacquier	...	Victor
Armand Meffre	...	Philoxène
André Dupon	...	Pamphile, le menuisier
Pierre Nougaro	...	Casimir
Jean Maurel	...	Anglade
Roger Souza	...	Ange, le fontainier

Also Known As:

Jean de Florette II
Manon delle sorgenti (Italy)
Manon des sources: Jean de Florette 2e partie (France) (poster title)
Manon of the Spring (USA)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Italy | France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | Singapore:NC-16 | West Germany:16 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Norway:12 | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Ansouis, Vaucluse, France

Company:

DD Productions

Trivia:

During the procession, the crowd sings. in Provencal language, a song dedicated to Saint Gens, a very popular local saint, who people pray to bring rain.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Manon visits her father's grave, a gravestone falls over on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

Quotes:

Cesar Soubeyran: He's such a bigot he might confess other people's sins.

Movie Connections:

Version of Manon des sources (1953)

One of the Very Best Films of the 1980s

Manon of the Spring is the sequel to Jean de Florette, released the same year. By no means should Manon be rented without having first seen Jean. By no means, in either case, should one glance at the movie notes on the reverse side of the video box.

Almost nothing can be said safely about Manon without giving away the overall plot or this or that twist or turn. Suffice to explain that Jean concerns an urbanite hunchback who relocates to the Provencal countryside with his wife and daughter, intent on raising rabbits. Manon picks up some years after the Jean conclusion, with the daughter having grown to young womanhood. (More prudish prospective viewers need to know that this will be explicitly evident.)

This is superb movie-making. Other reviewers accurately call it a masterpiece. The story line dominates, not the acting. Even so, Yves Montand continues his excellent performance from Jean, and Daniel Auteuil as the unsightly nephew is more impressive after one sees him clean-cut and sophisticate in something like Un Coeur en Hiver (1992). Emmanuelle Beart and Hipployte Girardot say very little, yet it doesn't detract from their respective essential portrayals. Anyone who becomes a Beart fan is advised to rent Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (1995).

The two movies, prequel and sequel, work as a team. By virtue of its powerful denouement, however, Manon of the Spring is the standout of the pair. For the same reason, in my opinion, it is one of the very best films of the 1980s.