Jean de Florette (1986)

A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (adaptation), Gérard Brach (adaptation) (as Gerard Brach)

Stars:

Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yves Montand	...	Cesar Soubeyran dit 'Le Papet'
Gérard Depardieu	...	Jean de Florette (as Gerard Depardieu)
Daniel Auteuil	...	Ugolin
Elisabeth Depardieu	...	Aimee Cadoret
Margarita Lozano	...	Baptistine
Ernestine Mazurowna	...	Manon Cadoret enfant
Armand Meffre	...	Philoxéne
André Dupon	...	Pamphile, le menuisier (as Andre Dupon)
Pierre Nougaro	...	Casimir
Jean Maurel	...	Anglade
Roger Souza	...	Ange
Didier Pain	...	Eliacin
Pierre-Jean Rippert	...	Pascal
Marc Betton	...	Martial
Clement Cal	...	Méderic

Storyline

In a rural French village an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, so are dismayed to hear the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts they think only of getting the water.

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Plot Keywords:

water | country vs city cultures | conspiracy | water rights | provence | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Switzerland France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

28 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Жан де Флоретт

Filming Locations:

Ansouis, Vaucluse, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$4,940,939

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,940,939

Company Credits

Production Co:

DD Productions, Films A2, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During pre-production 12,000 carnations had to be planted and a dozen olive trees, each several hundred years old, had to be transplanted.

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Goofs

During one scene, Cesar Soubeyran (Montand) produces a small telescope in order to spy on Jean de Florette (Depardieu); however, as he peers through it, the lens cap is clearly in place.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[dialog in French, lines from English subtitles]
Ugolin: Papet! Papet! It's me, Ugolin!

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Connections

Featured in The 100 Greatest Films (2001)

User Reviews

Flowers Mean Forgiveness

Marcel Pagnol was rightly admitted into the Acadamie Francaise, just about the highest honor a French writer can receive. No less a major force than Orson Welles described Pagnol's own movie 'La Femme du Boulanger' (The Baker's Wife) as the greatest movie ever made. For someone with a limited canvas - Provence, its small hamlets, the port of Marseilles, and the people who lived there - he sure extracted the maximum mileage. Jean de Florette and its sequel Manon des Source has now arguably become the highest profile of all Pagnol's work eclipsing even the great trilogy 'Marius', 'Cesar' and 'Fanny' featuring the great Raimu, and his two autobiographical works My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle. It is very gratifying for someone with a healthy streak of cynicism in their makeup to read such glowing tributes to this movie. If French cinema NEEDED an ambassador, which it doesn't, then these two titles - shot back to back as Montand's wife, Simone Signoret, lay dying - could not be bettered. To add any superlatives to those already posted here would be superfluous so just let me say that Montand is at the top of his game and that is saying something. Superb entertainment with terrific ensemble playing. An all-time great. 11/10