435 - Manon of the Spring, France, 1986. Dir. Claude Berri.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

435 - Manon of the Spring, France, 1986.  Dir. Claude Berri.

There is no gold here.  It is Jurassic cretaceous from the second Quaternary era.

So says Manon.  Her father has taught her well.  And you thought she never spoke.

What do you get when you combine a harmonica, "Singing in the Rain," and "The Lonely Goatherd"?

Well, technically nothing, but in this case we have Manon Cadoret, daughter of Jean Cadoret--known locally as Jean de Florette--dancing freely in the rain and playing the harmonica.

Oh, what joy.

She is a shepherdess.  Or more accurately a goatherdess.  She herds goats.  She lives alone.  Keeps to herself.  Bathes in the spring.  Climbs trees.  Lays out traps to catch birds and rabbits.  Watches others from a distance.  And enjoys dancing and playing the harmonica.

She is like the local nymph.

Now if only a young Pan will come along and love her.

She has her eyes set upon Bernard Olivier, the new local schoolteacher.  He too comes to the woods.  To study the local geology.  He shows the town they have lignite.  When he stops under a tree to eat his lunch, Manon just happens to be perched in it, watching from above.  He playfully shoos the goats away from his food.  He shares his food with the mule.  Whose mule and goats are these?  He hears a noise in the tree.  He looks up.  It is a squirrel.  Manon has hidden herself behind the trunk.  He does not see her.  He leaves.  He leaves his pocketknife.  She climbs down.  She finds it.

While Manon's eyes are set upon Bernard, Ugolin's eyes are set upon Manon.  He now has a successful carnation farm.  He goes hunting for hare.  He sees a hare.  Shoots it.  Misses.  Chases it.  When he gets to the rock ridge, he spies Manon bathing in the spring below.  And singing.  And dancing.  And playing the harmonica.

Who is this mythic beauty?

Ugolin knows.  He remembers.  He just has not seen her lately.  She has grown up.  She is dazzling.  An idyllic dream.  Ugolin is smitten.  He cannot stop thinking about her.  His uncle Papet, Cesar Soubeyran, tried to get him to marry to maintain the family line.  He has never been interested.  Now he is.  He begins following Manon from afar.  Watching her.  Helping her with her traps.  Putting birds and rabbits from his traps into hers.  And just as she found Bernard's pocketknife, Ugolin finds her red hair ribbon.  He sews it into his chest.  Bleeding as he goes.  This man has got it bad.

Ugolin loves Manon.  Manon loves Bernard.  Bernard loves teaching.  Who will win?

The spring dries up.

The villagers cannot find out why.  (We know.)  The local fountain is dry.  Ugolin's cistern is dry.  The carnations will die.  The local chickpeas will die.  Everyone's crops and livestock will die.  The mayor brings in an expert.  He calls an assembly.  Tensions are high.  The expert speaks in scientific terms.  Over everyone's heads.  He fails to communicate.  He presents three theories.  Hypothetical hypotheses.  Premises about the problem.  But no solutions.  And we paid for this?  People lose their tempers.  A marble bust is destroyed.  At least it was not the mayor's head.  He was swinging for the mayor.

Everyone goes to Mass today.  The priest delivers a sermon that pricks at their hearts.  People begin to wonder.  Maybe a crime was committed.  Maybe someone did this.  Maybe that someone is in here now.

Fingers are pointed.

The truth comes out.

Someone loves.

Someone dies.

And someone discovers something quite extraordinary.  Something we were not anticipating.  Which ties the two films together.  And gives them a sense of the epic.  The lives of five generations who lived on this land.  About to be six.

But that discovery may very well be taken to the grave.

And never revealed.

To those to whom it matters most.

But whether or not they know, we know.

We know.


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It has been about nine or ten years since the events of Jean de Florette (1986).  The subtitle of this film is Jean de Florette, Part II.  Claude Berri filmed the two films together in one seven-month stretch.

Here is the presentation of the water expert:
"The Perdrix Spring, which supplied your fountain, was the main source for this whole region.  It originated from a fissure between two layers of limestone.  The source is not diaclastic.  It is a vauclusian resurgence.  Thus, the water bed between two impervious strata leveled out, and the water issued forth along the upper stratum, under pressure.  This trapped pool supplied your basin by rising up, and the basin supplied your fountain through a series of pipes. . . . Where did your water originate?  [Here is a map.]  It's a study by the chief engineer that spells out exactly and to the point.  Your spring does not appear on this valuable map.  There's no stream within the orography of the Huveaune River or its tributaries.  Since the water does not originate locally, it comes from far away."

Thanks, man.  Let me write that down.  I'll see if it waters my crops.