Jean de Florette
Released 1986

”Jean de Florette” is an Italian /French period drama film directed by Claude Berri and based on the novel by Marcel Pagnol. It has a sequel called “Manon des Sources” released in 1986 also. It was produced by Pierre Grunstein and Alan Poire. It stars the very talented cast of Yves Montand, Gerard Depardieu, Margarita Lozano, Elisabeth Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil. The music was composed by Jean-Claude Petit and Guiseppe Verdi. It was nominated for 8 Cesar awards and two Golden Globes and the US National Board Review award. It also won The Golden Prize at the 15^th Moscow International Film Festival. “Jean de Florette” is a classic film that deserves a place among the greatest films including “Citizen Kane”, “Casablanca” and “Gone With The Wind”. It really is that good folks.

The story takes place in a small rural village in Provence. It is in southern France after the First World War. Ugolin Soyberan (played by Daniel Auteuil) returns home with the dream of growing carnations. He is a farmer with a lot of land but not enough water to fulfill his plans. He tells his uncle Cesar called `Papet` (played by Yves Montand) about his plan and the two begin scheming. In short, the two farmers scheme to acquire the land of Jean Cadoret who recently inherited it. Jean Cadoret moved down from Paris with his wife and daughter to live closer to the land and raise rabbits. He is a kind person with a good work ethic and he is also a hunchback. Ugolin and Papet use this fact to cast him in a bad light with the townspeople. They also use the fact that he was a tax collector in Paris before he moved down south. They spread rumors about him at the village cafe. They plug up his spring so he has to walk far to get water for his rabbits and destroy his property. Their crimes eventually put Jean Cadoret in a situation where he is killed. All of the townspeople know what is going on and do nothing. They know the two farmers are scheming to take Jean Cadoret´s land and do nothing.

This is a tragedy because the Cadoret family did not deserve what happened to them. They were not the victims of an accident or a natural disaster. They were victims of crimes done on them by Ugolin, Papet and the entire town. Jean Cadoret was a hard-working man who was trying to support his family and fulfill his dream of raising rabbits. He was also a good neighbor to the people of the village.

This is the story of a group of people, more particularly a town, behaving badly toward one family, who did nothing wrong. Their only crime was having a plot of land that the two farmers, Ugolin and Papet, wanted.

This film is truly a classic. It is a charming period film with a serious and disturbing theme. It presents an ugly truth about justice in a group. The sad fact is that justice in a group depends more on rank within that group then on an indivdual´s integrity and actions.

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