Neil Welch In post World War I Provence, unscrupulous patriarch Papet and his nephew Ugolin are planning to acquire some land from a local who dies, in the course of which they block up the spring on the land, the source of local water. The land is inherited by a stranger - the titular Jean de Florette - who moves in with his wife and small daughter, and begins to put his own plans into operation. Jean, trying to unblock the spring, dies in an explosion, his wife and daughter have to move, and Papet and Ugolin acquire the land. But there is a sequel...This subtitled French language film (which provided both the music and the ambiance of the UK Stella Artois commercials of the 90s and noughties) is first rate. The story is strong, the characters are stronger, and the feeling of 'tween-Wars rural France is stronger still. Gerard Depardieu as John, Yves Montand as Papet, and Jean Auteuil as Ugolin are all excellent.Just bear in mind that you can't watch it in isolation - you HAVE to watch the sequel, Manon Des Sources immediately afterwards.

Draco2-0 I just watched Jean De Florrete and it was great, very rare for me to say this but I was not once bored or restless during the entire movie. Jean De Florrete, about this French farmer who moves onto his uncle's land and decides it would be profitable to grow flowers. But in order to grow a enough flowers to make a profit they'll need more water than they have available. Their neighbor has an untapped underground spring. The farmer and his uncle go over to negotiate buying the land with the spring on it. Unfortunately for them their neighbor hates the uncle, and when they offer to buy some of his land the uncle and him get into a fight and during the bustle his head suffers a fatal blow against a rock and he dies almost instantaneously. The whole ordeal took place by a tree, so the farmer and his uncle make it look like the old man fell from the tree and hit his head. They think the land will be theirs but a relative of the neighbor, a hunchback, moves onto the property. The uncle offers to buy the land from him but the hunchback wants to use it for raising rabbits and growing squash. Fascinating to watch the triumphs and failures of the hunchback as he goes about trying to fulfill his dream, always with a happy upbeat attitude. The thing that amazed me about the movie would be just how simple the actual plot feels. There are no huge twists, no distracting sub-plots, not much happens for most of the movie until the last 15 minutes; despite that it manages to grab the viewers attention wonderfully and it doesn't let it go until the credits roll either. Unless you hate French movies. I highly recommend Jean De Floret.

runamokprods Two part film, that was 1st released as two separate features. Terrific telling of a complex story of intertwined farming families in rural France in the early part of the 20th century. The acting is mostly of the highest order. Yves Montand, one of the most suave men in history is completely believable as a rough hewn, self-centered farmer, Gerard Depardieu, also cast against type, as a gentle, educated city born man trying to make it as a farmer also is astounding. Almost as good is Daniel Auteuil as Montand's not-very-bright son. Only Emmanuelle Beart, gorgeous though she may be, doesn't quite convince me as the wild woman of the fields. Some of it is performance, some of it is how perfect she looks. The story is wonderful in a Dickensian sort of way, with clues and character elements showing up early, only to pay off three hours later. I love the first part even more, somehow it feels more truly tragic and dense, the 2nd part just a bit too neat by the end. But still a grand, intelligent, great looking entertainment.

billcr12 Gerard Depardieu is Jean de Florette, a simple, hard working landowner and farmer who grows and sells flowers and also raises rabbits for food. Some of Jean's neighbors would like to buy his land but Jean refuses to sell to them.They then find the main spring nearby and plug it with cement to prevent water from reaching the farm. Jean has to travel a good distance to carry large containers to his farm. He later gets badly injured and they take advantage of the situation quickly.This is a simple and slow moving drama which looks like a painting come to life. It is followed by the equally masterful "Manon of the Spring."