Manon of the Spring (1987)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

As good (or better) as this sequel is to "Jean de Florette", there are a number of things that bother me about the story. The first and most obvious is the ten year passage of time between the setting of the first film and this one. Secondly, Manon's mother has left and moved on with her life while her daughter opted to remain behind. One is not informed of the circumstances and timing of the mother's departure, so it's left to one's own consideration whether Manon has been living alone with her housekeeper for the entire ten years or something considerably less. But even more curious is the way it's revealed in this story how Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) learned of the deception concocted by Cesar/Le Papet (Yves Montand) and his nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) when she overheard some villagers talking. If one recalls, she actually came upon the two men who conspired to take her family's land in "Jean de Florette" and actually observed them freeing the spring they had blocked up. So that was a bit of a disconnect for this viewer.However it's the remaining part of the story that proceeds to uncover the village of Aubagne's nasty secret regarding the transfer of land from the Florettes to the Soubeyrans. With Manon extracting her own measure of revenge, the town is thrown into a panic over the lack of water for their own personal and business requirements. One of the more revealing aspects of the story was the way it revealed how ignorant some folks could be relative to fixing the problem. In particular, the one old gruff villager who felt he could intimidate the mayor into providing water when it was beyond any human being's control to do so. Where the story takes a stunning turn occurs following the suicide of the conflicted Ugolin, when Cesar himself comes to learn of his own baffling circumstance of unintended consequences and his relationship to Jean de Florette and Manon. I can't say that Cesar's decision to die was entirely realistic, but it does lend an air of pathos to the story and just the slightest measure of retribution for Manon. For me, even with the inconsistencies I mentioned earlier, I thought this was the better film of the two comprising the story. For it's full impact, I would recommend watching both in succession to maintain the continuity of the story.

Claude Berri did it again with the sequel to "Jean de Florette." Both films are master classes in direction. I can't say anything bad about "Manon." Like its prequel, the cinematography, acting and story was top notch.Rare for me, I really felt the anguish and pain of Cesar's nephew, Ugolin. (Ugolin has a fitting name considering he's, well, ugly). His spurning by Manon, who he is deeply in love with, was too difficult for him (and I) to bear. When I first started watching foreign films, there were so many, I didn't know which ones to see, so I used to go by which ones had won the Academy Award for best foreign language film or were nominated. Usually, the Academy got it right ("The Tin Drum," "Pelle the Conqueror," "Journey of Hope," "The Virgin Spring," etc.) Sometimes, though, they didn't. "Jean de Florette" and "Manon of the Spring" were both hideously and tragically overlooked by the Academy. Oh well. Like they say, you can't win 'em all.

This is the sequel to "Jean de Florette". Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) lives off the land as a goat herder. Her father hunchback Jean died failing to find water on their land. Her mother was forced to sell the worthless farm to Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand) who actually blocked and hid the spring that would have saved Jean. He and his nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) become rich growing flowers. Manon's mother is away playing Aida. Manon falls for young teacher Bernard Olivier. Cesar is pushing Ugolin to marry since they are the last of the Soubeyrans. Ugolin is obsessed with Manon and willing to give it all to her for her hand in marriage but she wants nothing to do with him. When Manon overhears two villagers confessing the village's reluctant collusion with Cesar's scheme, she blocks off the spring as revenge against Cesar and the village. It all comes to head and old blind Delphine returns to reveal a shocking secret of Jean's mother and Cesar's lost love Florette.It's not quite as great as "Jean de Florette". There is something poignant about the devastation of the first movie. There is something poetic about the sad ending. The second movie has the bad players have their comeuppance and it's not quite as satisfying. There is a poetic twist at the end and it's a reminder of the first movie. This is a solid sequel and I would suggest watching it back to back with the first movie.

When this movie ends, you will be devastated - and haunted forever by it. Here are the tragic consequences of pettiness, jealousy and evil scheming - graphically presented in a stunning two-part movie (Gerard Depardieu delivers a tour de force performance in Part 1, the movie Jean de Florette, which you need to see before seeing this movie, Manon Of The Spring). This brilliant French opus has been largely ignored and/or forgotten here in America but it sets a standard few American films of its time came close to achieving. I loved it so much I went out and bought the VCRs and recently (with great difficulty), the DVDs (which are hard to find, sadly). Few American movies come close to the greatness of this film duo and their memorable impact.