Manon of the Spring (1986)

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

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

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

Stars:

Yves Montand, Emmanuelle Béart, Daniel Auteuil

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In this, the sequel to Jean de Florette, Manon (Beart) has grown into a beautiful young shepherdess living in the idyllic Provencal countryside. She determines to take revenge upon the men responsible for the death of her father in the first film.

---

Plot Keywords:

spring | revenge | goatherd | sequel | countryside of provence | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Switzerland Italy France

Language:

French

Release Date:

4 December 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Manon of the Spring

Filming Locations:

Ansouis, Vaucluse, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,940,542

Company Credits

Production Co:

DD Productions, Films A2, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the procession, the crowd prays for rain by singing, in Provencal, a song dedicated to Saint Gens, a very popular local saint.

---

Goofs

When three goats are climbing on the rocks, you can clearly see someone waving a pine branch behind them, probably to force them to move.

---

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.

---

Connections

Spoofed in Date with an Angel (1987)

---

Soundtracks

Le Mariage de Manon
(Manon's Marriage)
Chanté par Gabriel Bacquier & Eve Brenner
Lyrics by David McNeil
conducted by Jean-Claude Petit with the Orchestre de Paris

User Reviews

Revenge and Revelation

Ten years after the death of Jean Cadoret, his wife has returned to the life of opera singer and his daughter Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) has grown up and become a gorgeous lonely shepherdess. Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) is now a thirty year-old wealthy bachelor planting carnations. His grandfather Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand) presses him to get married to carry the name of their family since he is the last man alive. When Ugolin sees Manon on the fields, he falls in love with her, but the shy Manon is infatuated with the school teacher Bernard Olivier (Hippolyte Girardot). One day, Manon overhears the conversation of two locals about the vile action of Ugolin and Cesar and she plots revenge against the two scoundrels blocking the spring of the whole town. While the farmers and the dwellers despair and the mayor summons a water specialist from the city, the priest organizes a precession. Later Cesar has a conversation with the blind Delphine (Yvonne Gamy) that discloses a secret about his beloved Florette.

Definitely "Jean de Florette" and "Manon des Sources" are among the best films I have ever seen. The revelation in the end of the story is unpredictable and closes this engaging story with golden key. The beauty of Emmanuelle Béart and the haunting music score are mesmerizing. I only regret that the Brazilian title is actually a spoiler. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Vingança de Manon" ("Manon's Revenge")