Manon des Sources (film)

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Manon of the Springs.

Directed by	Claude Berri
Written by	Claude Berri Gérard Brach
Starring	Yves Montand Daniel Auteuil Emmanuelle Béart Hippolyte Girardot
Release date(s)	November 19, 1986
Running time	113 min
Language	French
IMDb profile

Manon des Sources (Manon of the Springs.) is a critically acclaimed and commercially successful 1986 French language motion picture. Based upon the 1966 two-part novel by Marcel Pagnol, it is the sequel to Jean de Florette. The two films are often seen together as companions, as Manon des Sources relies heavily upon the story established in Jean de Florette and acts as a conclusion to the unresolved elements of the plot established in the first film.

1 Plot
2 Production crew
3 Cast
4 Awards

[edit] Plot

See also: Jean de Florette

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Following the events of Jean de Florette, Manon—daughter of Jean—is living in the countryside of Provence near Romarins, the farm that her father once owned. She has taken up residence with an elderly Provençal couple who teach her to live off the land, tending to a herd of goats and hunting for birds and hare. Ugolin Galinette has begun a successful business growing carnations at Romarins with his uncle, César Soubeyran, thanks to the water provided by the spring there. Manon is determined to expose the two, and how they hid the presence of the spring from her father, to the inhabitants of the nearby town.

After seeing her bathe naked, Ugolin develops a crush on Manon, who is disgusted by him and his uncle; his interest quickly manifests into obsession. At the same time, Manon becomes interested in Bernard, who recently arrived in town. The film comes to a head when Manon finds the source of the spring, and the town's water. She takes her revenge on the Soubeyrans, and the townspeople who said and did nothing, by stopping the flow of water. She reveals what she knows, reinforced by the townspeoples' suspicions, and the confirmation of a long-silent observer, shaming César and Ugolin. She also reveals that Florette was the mother of her father.

Rejected by Manon, Ugolin commits suicide, thus ending the Soubeyran line. Delphine, an old acquaintance of César, returns to the town and tells of how Florette, his old flame, had written to him telling him of the child she carried. Because of the war, César never received the letter and never knew. In a cruel twist of fate, Jean, the man he drove to desperation and effectively killed, was the son he had always wanted. Devastated, César makes what amends he can to Manon and, lacking the will to live any longer, dies quietly in his sleep.