A sprawling tale of greed, betrayal, and revenge plays out amid the bucolic splendor of the French countryside in Claude Berriās masterly two-film adaptation of a literary work by the legendary Marcel Pagnol. Spanning three generations in the lives of two families,Ā Jean de FloretteĀ andĀ Manon of the SpringĀ vividly recreate the provincial world of an early-twentieth-century village, where an outsiderās arrival sets in motion a devastating chain of events. With gorgeous cinematography, keen insights into human nature, and superb performances from icons of French cinema (GĆ©rard Depardieu, Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, and Emmanuelle BĆ©art), these richly absorbing moral talesāat the time of their production, the most expensive French films ever madeāare triumphs of epic storytelling in the classical tradition.
Jean de Florette
The sun-dappled beauty of the Provence countryside belies dark motivations, in the first installment of Claude Berriās monumental pastoral tragedy. When the naively idealistic tax collector Jean Cadoret (GĆ©rard Depardieu) unexpectedly inherits a family farm, he leaves the city for a new life in the agrarian community where his mother, Florette, grew upāthough she moved away decades ago. His neighbors, however, the scheming Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) and his proud uncle CĆ©sar Soubeyran (Yves Montand), have plotted to divert the flow of water away from Jeanās land. Brought to extraordinary life by acting legends Depardieu, Auteuil, and Montand,Ā Jean de FloretteĀ draws viewers into a fully realized vision of 1920s rural France in which the culture clash between modern ideas and the rustic older codes of the country takes a heartbreaking turn.
Manon of the Spring
Shot simultaneously withĀ Jean de Florette,Ā this second chapter in the epic story of the intersecting fates of the Cadoret and Soubeyran families unfolds ten years after the events of the first film, as Jean Cadoretās daughter, Manon (Emmanuelle BĆ©art, in a CĆ©sar-winning performance), now a teenage shepherdess, learns of the circumstances that drove her family to ruināand seeks revenge on those responsible. A stirring portrait of a young womanās awakening to her own agency,Ā Manon of the SpringĀ brings to a close Claude Berriās sweeping Marcel Pagnol adaptation with a devastating power that approaches Greek tragedy.
Special Features
- New 4K digital restorations, supervised by director of photography Bruno Nuytten, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
- In the 4K UHD edition: Two 4K UHD discs of the films and two Blu-rays with the films and special features
- Claude Berri: The Card DealerĀ (2018), a documentary on director Claude Berriās life and career
- The Force of DestinyĀ (2017), a documentary about the making of the films
- Trailers
- New English subtitle translations
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Sue Harris
Illustration by Sam Hadley
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