Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1986


Manon des Sources (1986 film)

Buy Manon des Sources (1986 film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Manon des Sources' (; meaning 'Manon of the Springs') is a 1986 French language period film. Directed by Claude Berri, it is the second of two films adapted from the 1966 two-volume novel by Marcel Pagnol, who wrote it based on his own earlier film of the same title. It is the sequel to 'Jean de Florette'.[https://siskelebert.org/?p=4424 The Duxorcist, Walker, Manon of the Spring, The Dead, Happy New Year, 1987 Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews][https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/manon-of-the-spring-1987 Roger Ebert][https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/9036 Spirituality & Practice]

'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des Sources' are ranked No. 60 in 'Empire' magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.



Plot



Following the events of 'Jean de Florette', Manon, the daughter of Jean, is living in the countryside of Provence near Les Romarins, the farm that her father once owned. She has taken up residence with an elderly Piedmontese squatter couple who teach her to live off the land, tending to a herd of goats and hunting for birds and rabbits. Ugolin Soubeyran, also called Galinette (only by his uncle Csar), has begun a successful business growing carnations at Les Romarins with his uncle, Csar Soubeyranalso known as Papetthanks to the water provided by the spring there.

After seeing her bathe nude in the mountains, Ugolin develops an interest in Manon. When he approaches her, she seems disgusted by his vileness and almost certainly by the memory of his involvement in her father's downfall. But Ugolin's interest in Manon becomes obsessive, culminating in sewing a ribbon from her hair onto his chest. At the same time, Manon becomes interested in Bernard, a handsome and educated schoolteacher recently arrived in the village. As a small child, Manon had suffered the loss of her father, who died from a blow to the head while using explosives in an attempt to find a water source. Csar and Ugolin then bought the farm cheaply from his widowManon's motherand unblocked the spring. Manon witnessed this as a child. The two men profited directly from his death.

When she overhears two villagers talking about it, Manon realises that many in the village knew of the crime but had remained silent, for the Soubeyran family was locally important. While searching for a goat that fell into a crevice above the village, Manon finds the underground source of the spring that supplies water to the local farms and village. To take her revenge on both the Soubeyrans and the villagers, who knew but did nothing, she stops the flow of water using the iron-oxide clay and rocks found nearby.

The villagers quickly become desperate for water to feed their crops and run their businesses. They come to believe that the water flow had been stopped by some Providence to punish the injustice committed against Jean. Manon publicly accuses Csar and Ugolin, and the villagers admit their own complicity in the persecution of Jean. They had never accepted him, as he was an outsider and was physically deformed. Csar tries to evade the accusations, but an eyewitness, a poacher who was trespassing on the vacant property at the time, steps forward to confirm the crime, shaming both Csar and Ugolin. Ugolin makes a desperate attempt to ask Manon for her hand in marriage, but she rejects him. The Soubeyrans flee in disgrace. Rejected by Manon, Ugolin commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree, apparently ending the Soubeyran line.

The villagers appeal to Manon to take part in a religious procession to the village's fountain because she is orphaned, hoping that acknowledging the injustice will restore the flow of water to the village. With the assistance of Bernard, Manon unblocks the spring in advance, and the water arrives at the village at the moment that the procession reaches the fountain. Manon marries Bernard.

Meanwhile, Csar has been broken by his nephew's suicide. Delphine, an old acquaintance of his, returns to the village and tells him that Florette, his sweetheart from that period, had written to him to tell him she was carrying their child. Receiving no reply from him, she had tried to abort it. Florette left the village, married a blacksmith from nearby Crspin, and the child was born alive but a hunchback.

Csar, away on military service in Africa, never received her letter and did not know that she had given birth to his child. In a cruel twist of fate, Jean, the man he drove to desperation and death without having met him, was the son he had always wanted. Realizing now she is related to him, Csar sadly watches a pregnant Manon hurry home at night, wishing to reconcile with his only grandchild, but knowing it will never happen.

Devastated, and lacking the will to live any longer, Csar dies quietly in his sleep. In a letter he leaves his property to Manon, whom he recognises as his natural granddaughter and the last of the Soubeyrans.

Cast



* Emmanuelle Bart as Manon

* Yves Montand as Csar Soubeyran/'Le Papet'

* Daniel Auteuil as Ugolin

* Hippolyte Girardot as Bernard Olivier

* Margarita Lozano as Baptistine

* Yvonne Gamy as Delphine

* Gabriel Bacquier and ve Brenner as singers at the wedding

Production



The sequence in which Manon bathes naked posed some difficulties. Being modest, Emmanuelle Bart was reluctant to undress in front of the crew. In an effort to resolve the situation, Claude Berri undressed and dived naked into the water to break the ice. As a result, Bart followed suit.

Box office



The film was a domestic and international success, grossing nearly $4 million in US sales.

Awards



* Csar Award for Best Actor - Daniel Auteuil, 1987

* Csar Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmanuelle Bart, 1987

* Best Foreign Language Film, National Board of Review, 1987

References




Buy Manon des Sources (1986 film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1986



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1106266874.