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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Genres:

Drama

---

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.

---

Goofs

When Jean is first fixing his roof and he bends over, the outline of the padding used to make his hunchback is clearly visible.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Featured in The 100 Greatest Films (2001)

User Reviews

Beautiful, cynical and sad film

The story starts of pretty simple. Ugolin (wonderfully portrayed by Daniel Auteuil) has returned to his home, after serving in the army. He now wants to devote his life planting nelliks. His friend and old "mentor" Papet (powerfull done by Yves Montad) see that without water (which is scarce in the area) he will fail. He helps him with money, and get him to buy land from his nabour, which has a very good water source. But he wont sell. Without spoiling to much, he dies. His land goes over to his sister, who dies shortly after. The land is inherited by her rather naive son, Jean de Florette (Gerard Depardieu, who gives the most impressive acting) a man of the city, he dreams of living of the land, farming what he needs, and selling rabbits. He moves there with his daugther and wife. Ugolin and Papet is then devoted to driving him down, so they can buy the land. They cover the water source.

The film is beautifully shot, the area looks wonderful. Also, the score is absolutely marvelous, making the film throughly exquisite. A good thing, the film is not overwhelmed by this beauty. It is strongly concentrated around telling the story, about the up and downfalls of the family, who strive to survive. Also portrays humans as decivefull and evil. Ugolin's envy of the land Jean owns, is a strong theme in the film, together with mans battle to survive. I have not seen the second part, but I really look forward to it. Jean de Florette is a great film in all ways, and I recommend it to anyone. This is one of the few "must see" films out there.