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Click above to purchase "Jean de Florette" at amazon.com
Jean de Florette
review by Anthony D.
Rated PG-13
Running Time: 122 minutes
Starring Yves Montand, Daniel Auteuil, Gerard
Depardieu, Elizabeth Depardieu and Ernestine Mazurowna
Screenplay by Claude Berri and Gerard Brach
Directed by Claude Berri
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 2.35:1 Non-Anamorphic Widescreen, French Dolby
Surround, English Subtitles, French Subtitles, Spanish
Subtitles, Chapter Search
"Jean de Florette," a 1986 foreign language film, from
French director Claude Berri, weaves a spell of evil in the
guise of a provincial village. The farming community, under
the leadership of the wealthiest man and his nephew (Yves
Montand as Le Papet, Daniel Auteuil as Ugolin), do their
utmost to see that a newcomer (Gerard Depardieu) and his
family fail at every turn in their attempt to return to
nature. On the rich soil of this "Jean de Florette,"
(literally John the son of Florette) is the region's best
water supply: a fresh water spring which had been known to
flow many, many years ago. Le Papet and Ugolin will even
resort to murder to acquire this plot of land. Ugolin has
learned to cultivate carnations, and when Le Papet sees how
much money can be made from the growth of carnations, Le
Papet finds the ancient spring and blocks it with cement;
thus insuring that nothing Jean attempts to grow will ever
succeed. The village silent stands by as Jean faces one
failure falling upon the next, but each successive failure
only makes Jean more determined to succeed, whatever the
cost, as his wife and his daughter, Manon, look on
helplessly.
Based on a literary classic by Marcel Pagnol ("The Fanny
Triology"), "Jean de Florette" is a surprisingly
entertaining film, with standout performances from the three
leading actors. The film feels like a novel unwinding before
one's eyes, and paced as on turning the page a new and
exciting fate will take hold of the characters. The
Technovision camera lovingly moves across the landscape of
this mountainous region where rain barely falls, lending an
authentic air to a fable handed down from one generation to
another. That "Jean de Florette" is based on a true tale
makes its denouement all the more heartbreaking. BUT, "Jean
de Florette" is only one-half of the tale, the story
continues ten years later in "Manon of the Spring." In spite
of this, "Jean de Florette" is a fine stand-alone film.
As part of MGM's exciting new WORLD FILMS series, "Jean
de Florette" has been issued in a glowing, though
non-anamorphic, widescreen transfer with an aspect ration of
approximately 2.35:1. With many scenes filmed with natural
lighting - - a very popular practice in the 1980's, I was
pleased to find a relatively low percentage of film grain.
Colors appear to be as true as possible for a film from this
period, with the reds never bleeding, and fleshtones
wavering only slightly to the orange side. Fabric textures
reach out and are highly defined. There are a few minor
instances of moiring, in a couple of outdoor scenes, when
the tiled rooftops are shown.
No new Dolby 5.1 track here; MGM has elected to retain
the film's original Dolby Surround (2.0) French language
track, and though dated, is not an unpleasant experience.
The rear channels mostly bring the excellent score by
Jean-Claud Petit into play. The score itself is a personal
favorite of mine, and it is very well presented through this
track. I could have hoped for an English Language track, but
after having seen both films in a theater and having viewed
the dvd, I realized that the French language is the only way
to present this film. It seems that there are several French
dialects at work here - - think of Henry Higgins in "My Fair
Lady" attempting to locate a person's home within three city
blocks just by the way he speaks - - the prim & proper
dialect used by the city-dweller Jean and his family, and
the regional sound of Le Papet, Ugolin and the villagers.
Anyone who has had several years studying the French
language will hear these distinctions instantly; but whether
they would work with English dubbing remains to be seen.
As for the extras, MGM has given us one single release
Trailer which makes excellent use of Petit's score,
and fortunately gives away none of the secrets of the film.
Compared to the film itself, the trailer is grainy and
harshly lit - - watching it before the film made me fearful
of the quality of the film's transfer.
"Jean de Florette" contains what is probably Gerard
Depardieu's finest performance, and he is ably abetted by
the late, great Yves Montand. These two powerhouses, though
they never share the screen at the same time share many of
the same idiosyncrasies, which only become apparent after
repeated viewings. And "Jean de Florette," with or without
"Manon of the Spring" is a film crafted to be savored over
and over. With MGM's wave of new low prices, this is one
French meal you don't have to go over budget for.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (3/5)
 (1/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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