Manon of the Spring (1986) Manon des sources (original title)

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (adaptation)
Gérard Brach (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

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 | Goatherd

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
Didier Pain	...	Eliacin
Pierre-Jean Rippert	...	Cabridan
Marc Betton	...	Martial
Chantal Liennel	...	Amandine
Lucien Damiani	...	Belloiseau
Fransined	...	Le Fleuriste
Françoise Trompette	...	Une villageoise

Directed by
Claude Berri

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Claude Berri		adaptation
Gérard Brach		adaptation (as Gerard Brach)
Marcel Pagnol		novel

Produced by
Pierre Grunstein	....	executive producer
Alain Poiré	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jean-Claude Petit

Cinematography by
Bruno Nuytten

Film Editing by
Hervé de Luze		(as Herve De Luze)
Geneviève Louveau		(as Genevieve Louveau)

Casting by
Marie-Christine Lafosse

Production Design by
Bernard Vézat		(as Bernard Vezat)

Set Decoration by
Olivier Coutagne
François Dariani		(as François Bariani)
Françoise Doré

Costume Design by
Sylvie Gautrelet

Makeup Department
Pierre Bellis	....	makeup artist
Jean-Pierre Berroyer	....	hair stylist
Michel Deruelle	....	makeup artist
Jean-Pierre Eychenne	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jacques Allaire	....	unit manager
Frédéric Auburtin	....	unit manager (as Frederic Auburtin)
Olivier Austen	....	unit manager
Marie-Françoise Eugene	....	unit manager
Pascal Klein	....	unit manager
Jacky Lapointe	....	unit manager
Alain Olivieri	....	unit manager
Philippe Savournin	....	unit manager
Janou Shammas	....	unit manager
Roland Thénot	....	production manager (as Roland Thenot)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pascal Baeumler	....	assistant director
Xavier Castano	....	assistant director
Isabelle Henri	....	assistant director (as Isabelle Henry)
Emmanuel Touraille	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Pierre Cognard	....	assistant decorator
Jean Marc Druais	....	assistant decorator (as Jean-Marc Druais)
Thomas Godelle	....	assistant decorator
Marcel Laude	....	property master
Christian Marti	....	assistant decorator
Patrick Martin	....	assistant decorator
Christian Tamisier	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Jocelyne Cartier-Stern	....	dubbing (as Jocelyne Cartier)
Bernard Chaumeil	....	boom operator
Pierre Gamet	....	sound
François Groult	....	assistant sound mixer
Dominique Hennequin	....	sound
Gérard Lamps	....	sound recordist (as Gerard Lamps)
Mireille Leroy	....	sound editor
Alain Lévy	....	foley artist (as Alain Levy)
Jacques Lévy	....	dubbing (as Jacques Levy)
Jérôme Lévy	....	foley artist (as Jerome Levy)
Maryline Monthieux	....	sound editor
Laurent Quaglio	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jean-Marc Mouligne	....	special effects
Paul Trielli	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Luc Bezeau	....	grip
Louis Bihi	....	electrician
Bernard Brégier	....	grip (as Bernard Bregier)
Gerard Buffard	....	grip
Bernard Caroff	....	electrician
Rémy Chevrin	....	assistant camera (as Remy Chevrin)
Benoît Delhomme	....	assistant camera
Etienne George	....	still photographer
Franck Landron	....	assistant camera
Gilles Lienard	....	electrician
Pierre Novion	....	assistant camera
Georges Pierre	....	still photographer
Bernard Prim	....	still photographer
Gérard Rival	....	grip (as Gerard Rival)
Christian Weyers	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Madeline Fontaine	....	costumer
Simone Leroy	....	costumer
Paule Mangenot	....	costumer
Gil Noir	....	costumer
Michèle Richer	....	costumer (as Michele Richer)
Catherine Taisson	....	costumer
Claudia Tenaglia	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Corinne Rozenberg	....	assistant editor
Catherine Sabbah	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Gabriel Bacquier	....	singing voice: "Monsieur"
Eve Brenner	....	singing voice: "Madame"
Sophie Coussein	....	music editor: songs
Roland Guillotel	....	music mixer
Roland Guillotel	....	music recordist
Maurice Guis	....	musician: psalterion
Jean-Claude Petit	....	conductor
Virginie Petit	....	musical director
Pascal Revelard	....	music editor: songs
Emmanuelle Simon	....	music editor: songs
Toots Thielemans	....	musician: harmonica solo

Other crew
Michel Andre	....	animal director
Bernard Bruna	....	animal director
Josée Bénabent-Loiseau	....	press attache (as Josee Benabent Loiseau)
Jean-Paul Camail	....	location manager
Frederic Fouille	....	location manager (as Frederic Fouillé)
Denise Henry	....	production secretary
Gilles Loutfi	....	location manager (as Gilles G. Loutfi)
Andre Pavon	....	animal director
Tamara Setton	....	administrator
Colette Suder	....	administrator
Hélène Sébillotte	....	script supervisor (as Helene Sebillotte)
Jackline Tolianker	....	production secretary (as Jacqueline Tolianker)
Dominique Trebert	....	location manager
Jean-Pierre Vincent	....	press attache

Production Companies

• DD Productions
• Films A2
• Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)
• Renn Productions

Distributors

• Orion Classics (1987) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• AMLF (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Constantin-Filmverleih (1987) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Finnkino (1989) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Nea Kinisi (1988) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Sonet Film (1987) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Aquarius TV (2006) (Greece) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Emerald (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Future Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV) (1991) (Finland) (TV)
• Nea Kinisi Video (1989) (Greece) (VHS)
• Orion Home Video (1988) (USA) (TV)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1991) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Transmundo Films (Argentina)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (Argentina) (video)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (TV)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2003) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• YLE Teema (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1999) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Ditta Pompei  shoes
• Orchestre de Paris  orchestra
• Transpalux  lighting equipment

Also Known As:

"Manon des sources" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Italy | France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

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

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:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Near the beginning of the film, when Manon plays the harmonica in the rain at the graveyard, it is obvious that the song she is playing does not match her playing position. For example when there is a high note, on screen it looks like she is playing a low note.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[dialog in French, lines from English subtitles]
Le Fleuriste:Voila!
[pause]
Le Fleuriste:Next time I won't pay this much. The competition from Italy is ruining me.
Cesar Soubeyran:This barely pays for the fertilizer for the flowers. Next year we'll grow chickpeas.
Le Fleuriste:I'll miss our aperitifs together.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Final Cut: Hölgyeim és uraim (2012)

A worthy sequel

Following the death of her father, Manon (Emmanuelle Beart) has remained in the farm house tending goats. Galinette (Auteuil) and his uncle Cesar (Montard) have greatly prospered from the fresh spring water and their carnations grow well. Galinette begins to turn towards ideas of love and steadily falls for the distant Manon. Meanwhile she has discovered the treachery that once befell her father and begins her plan to uncover the culprits.

This follows on from the open-ended story of "Jean de Florette". Time has passed and Manon is now a beautiful young woman. This film will satisfy those who felt the bleak ending of the first film was not satisfying. This sees those who acted in greed receive their deserves. As a conclusion to the story it is satisfactory - the film begins quite relaxed and is quite humorous throughout. However the "punishment" of both Galinette and Cesar is moving. Cesar's fate is particularly impacting and you feel sorry for him and his greediness.

The performances are not as strong as before. In the first film both Montard and Auteuil had set characters to play. Here they are less set and act out their roles rather than their characters. Beart is good as Manon, but she is too different in heart from the angel of the first - it's understandable why she has changed but where she was since the last film is not clear, it's unlikely that her mother would have left her at the farm or that she would have let her leave to return. But this is a minor complaint over a moving tale of deserves. I would say this rather than revenge - because both Galinette and Cesar bring their pains upon themselves.

My only problem with this is that it follows the story of the first film. However to me the first film was more about human nature (greed & hope specifically) rather than the story of the farmland and the spring. Although the end of Jean de Florette was bleak it was perhaps understandable that things should end that way. That said this is a good conclusion to the story if that's what you want - although as a further look at human nature it doesn't convince as well as the first did.

Manon des Sources is a good film that has all the visual beauty of the first film and continues the strong emotive story - as a pair of films they are an excellent piece of work. However for me, the first film is so strong in all areas that it leaves too much for the second to live up to.

A moving sequel that almost manages to live up to what went before.