Tweet
Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: January 27, 2015
Director: Claude Berri
Cast: Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Gerard Depardieu, Elisabeth Depardieu, Emmanuelle Beart, Hippolyte Girardot, Margarita Lozano, Yvonne Gamy
Year: 1986
Purchase From Amazon
The Movies:
Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974) began his career as a playwright in the 1920s but by the end of the decade had become fascinated with film. His play Marius was adapted to the big screen in his native France in 1931, and the following year Pagnol founded his own film production company. He made many films during his lengthy career, but few were as contentious as his 1952 feature Manon des Sources; running nearly four hours in length, it was considered too long by its distributor and butchered. Heartbroken, Pagnol returned to writing. Among his most revered works was his novelization of the film, published in the early 1960s under the title L'Eau des collines [Water of the Hills]. It, too, was considered too long, but rather than cut it down, the Pagnol broke it into two novels, Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources.
The works were only mildly successful at the time of their original publication, but in the mid-1980s, French filmmaker Claude Berri set about faithfully adapting them to the big screen. Ignoring the original film altogether, Berri modeled his endeavor closely on its literary source, which he had stumbled upon in a hotel room and read. Two films, each based on one of the novels, were released in 1986, both featuring the same locations and largely the same casts.
Set in rural Provence shortly after the first World War, Jean de Florette follows Ugolin Soubeyran and his uncle Cesar, who murder a neighboring farmer in the hopes of stealing his land. Their intention is that Ugolin will raise flowers on the property, fed by the neighbor's spring. What they don't count on is the deceased farmer's nearest relative, a hunchback named Jean de Florette, and his family claiming the property for themselves. Jean, his wife, and their daughter Manon move in, hoping to farm the land themselves and raise rabbits to sell at market. Ugolin and Cesar cement the spring in a secret attempt to drive the family out. The plan proves successful, though not in the way they had hoped.
Manon of the Spring takes place several years later. Manon has grown into a beautiful young woman who herds sheep in the countryside around Provence. Ugolin develops an obsession with her, one that reveals a skeleton in his closet and brings about the downfall of the Soubeyran family.
As the trailer for Manon of the Spring points out, Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Jean de Florette, “The most enjoyable feature-length preface in the history of cinema.†And he was/is right. While the first film does feature a plot all its own and is excellent, it nevertheless acts as a prologue to Manon of the Spring, which ties both films' plot points together with a fantastic final revelation. When played back to back, the two films are remarkably tight, without a single wasted frame despite their lengthy running times. They comprise a single, somber affair that is appealing in its depth of studies.
The two films are chock full of terrific performances. Jean de Florette features three of France's most famous actors, Yves Montand (as the uncle), Daniel Auteuil (as Ugolin), and Gerard Depardieu (as Jean), all three of whom are superb, though it was Auteuil who rightfully won a BAFTA for his performance. And Manon of the Spring features a likewise terrific Emmanuelle Beart as the sexually maturing Manon.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory has sensibly released Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring in a double disc set, with each film being placed on its own 50GB disc in MPEG-4 AVC encodes. Because both films have received almost identical transfers in terms of picture quality, we here at R!S!P! have chosen to discuss them together rather than separately. Jean De Florette is presented in 2.36:1, while Manon of the Spring is presented in 2.35:1. The 1080p resolution is nothing short of a revelation. Much of each film takes place outdoors and in the dead of summer, where a dusty amber pall hangs over everything. Plants have faded from green to brown, while clothing tends toward tanned or russet. This is not a fault of an aging print, however; it's the natural earthy hues of the locales and period clothing. Skin tones are entirely naturalistic, and when there are spots of color (such as Ugo's flowers), they pop majestically. The outdoor location also has another effect: it provides the perfect showcase for the terrific transfer. The blades of grass, the leaves of trees, the pebbled soil, and the rocky cavern brim with detail. So, too, do people's faces and articles of clothing. Grain is largely natural, though it is slightly excessive in night-time sequences, resulting in minor crush in a few instances. The only other issue is a brief moment of apparent print damage in Manon of the Spring. Otherwise, Shout's presentation is practically perfect on a visual level.
There are 12 chapter breaks.
Both films feature two audio tracks: lossless French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0. Both suit each film just fine, particularly Jean-Claude Petit's at-times rousing and at-times melancholy and subdued score. As with the visuals, the outdoor locales offer an interesting array of natural sound effects, which are well recreated here, and the dialogue is clear and discernible.
The only extras are trailers for each film. The first lasts 1:27, while the second lasts 1:48.
The Final Word:
When taken together, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring form the perfect epic tragedy, and Shout! Factory's presentation of the two films, packaged together though placed on separate Blu-ray discs, is a revelation. The films look and sound superb. There are few extras, but given that together the two films are approximately four hours of French cinema at its finest, that's okay.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
