It is a performances centric movie

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

As a B Western movie fan, I can't tell you how many films I've seen in which the plot had to do with some villain attempting to secure water rights from a neighboring rancher by hook or by crook. This often included such diabolical deeds as extortion and murder. What I never expected with "Jean de Florette" was for the same idea to be presented in such a compelling and provocative way in a French milieu. The story does have it's villain of course, and I'd have to say that Cesar/Le Papet (Yves Montand) was probably as remorseless as any Western Simon Legree when it came to duplicity and underhandedness. Not only did he airplane spin his neighbor Marius head first into a rock, but thought it might be a good idea to go back and 'finish him off'. His nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) wasn't much better, but had a subtler way of containing his emotions when the new occupants took possession of the Romarin property. One can do nothing but feel pity toward Jean de Florette (Gérard Depardieu) as he trudges relentlessly day by day to provide the needed water for his crops, as the underhanded tactics of Cesar and Ugolin are kept a secret by the town folk of Aubagne. Driven to desperation, Jean loses his life in a bid to release a potential spring beneath an underground rock shelf, thereby resulting in the eventual transfer of land to the Soubeyrans. What I wasn't expecting was for this picture to finish on an undetermined note with the fate of Jean de Florette's wife and daughter Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna) to be taken up by a sequel. Though I felt inconvenienced at the time, it turns out that the story's conclusion may be even better than the one presented here. For that, one's attention must be directed to "Manon of the Spring". I recommend watching both in succession for the full impact of the story to be realized.

Jean de Florette is the first of a two-part French period drama from director Claude Berri, concluded by Manon des Sources which was also released the same year. It should be stressed that both films need to be watched together, as individually they will not entirely make sense. This first part sets the scene and is by far the more downbeat of the two films. Set in the 1920's in south-east France in a rural community based in a mountainous region, the story centres on a city man, a hunchback called Jean de Florette, and his family who inherit an estate in the hills. His neighbours Cesar and his nephew Ugolin Soubeyran covet this property and try every underhand trick to force Jean off the property, including blocking the precious spring that his land depends on. As a result of their actions, as well as the complicity of the local villagers, Jean experiences ever increasing levels of stress and bad fortune in trying to make his new life work out.This is a good example of the 'cinema of quality' from France, incidentally a type of traditional film-making in which the young upstarts from the cinéma du look movement were making films in direct opposition to. But I think it's only fair to say that, while it may be an obvious bit of commercial French cinema, it's also a very good example of it. The story-line is its strong point with themes of greed and prejudice, coupled with what can happen when bystanders do nothing when they witness bad deeds. The story is well presented with strong characterisation and excellent acting, especially from Gérard Depardieu as the optimistic and naive Jean, and with Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil acting as the well-drawn villainous neighbours. Add to this some attractive photography of the natural pastoral landscape, with the famous melancholic score adding a further dimension. It all adds up to a quality bit of cinema and a great appetizer for the second part of the story.

A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.Roger Ebert commented on Berri's exploration of human character, "the feeling that the land is so important the human spirit can be sacrificed to it". Is human character in this sense shaped by the land? Of course. Is it always? Maybe not."Jean de Florette" and "Manon des Sources" have been interpreted as part of a wider trend in the 1980s of so-called 'heritage cinema': period pieces and costume dramas that celebrated the history, culture and landscape of France. And good on them for that.

This great, great movie - along with its necessary follow-up, Manon Of The Spring - features one of the best stories, best casts, best cinematography, best direction, best scripts of all time. And Gerard Depardieu was never better. Great to see an aging Yves Montand at his very best, too, as the evil, scheming Cesar. Stick with it - through its many twists and turns. On the surface, it is a gentle movie, at a gentle pace, but it bubbles with an underlying tension that never quits - through to the end of Part 2 (Manon Of The Spring). When I first saw this film, I couldn't wait for Manon Of The Spring to come out, to find out how the story finally ended. It's that good. You will be enraptured, get involved with the characters, and care about them intensely to the very end. This film - and its Part 2 - are so far above the quality of the average American film these days it's not funny. This is the kind of film Hollywood should be putting out. It speaks volumes about the human tendency toward pettiness, cruelty and jealousy - and the terrible consequences of this kind of behavior. A tragedy almost on a Shakespearean level (certainly Shakespeare would have been proud to have written it) - this is one of the greatest movies ever made. The ending - which comes with the next movie - will absolutely devastate and haunt you. About the subtitles (this movie is in French) - you have got to put up with that because otherwise you will miss out on an exceptional experience you will never forget.