Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring (MGM World Films)

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Description
Disc 1 Side A: **Widescreen Feature Film - Jean de Florette

Disc 2: **Widescreen Feature Film - Manon of the Spring

Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

+20 for the movie, -15 for the package. July 26, 2007
75 out of 85 found this review helpful

I'm editing my review. In my case, I'm an obsessive fan of these movies, and maybe nothing would've met my expectations. If you haven't seen these films, buy this DVD IMMEDIATELY! You will not be sorry, and more than likely you'll find my criticisms baseless and nit-picky.

I wrote the original after skipping around the discs and being extremely disappointed by what I saw. Since then, I've sat down and watched both movies on this disc and my opinion has changed somewhat. The problem was my expectations, not the actual product.

On the whole, these films DO look fantastic when compared to every other DVD release available (MGM and the R2 Pathe discs from France). However, they don't look nearly as good as I believe possible. I think this film deserves the royal treatment, an all new, high definition transfer by seriously skilled people.

Unfortunately, while the resolution is good, it is anamorphic, and appears to be a straight NTSC transfer (and not a PAL-to-NTSC conversion as I previously thought), there is just something not right. The colors are way too hot when compared to the actual film, and there just seems to be a layer of fuzz or blur over the whole thing that is not present on the big screen.

I give it 5 stars because the films are fantastic. The two greatest foreign films I've ever seen. I've watched them each about 15 times, and never grow tired of them. I pretty much learned French watching these movies.

However, this DVD seriously lacks. This movie is in dire need of a new and improved subtitle translation. While the subtitles make sense on the whole, I've studied the French script, and there is a great deal missing in the translation.

There are no special features.

For YEARS, these films have been out of print in America, the originals going for upwards of $50 a piece on ebay. Clearly someone was paying attention and realized there's enough people who enjoy this movie to make it available again. But slapping this set together, while allowing new viewers the opportunity to see the films, is an insult to fans who've waited a LOOOONG time for a proper American release. But a cheap release is better than none at all.

Caveat: Perhaps if enough people buy this DVD, MGM will wake up and release a proper special edition. For $14, it's a great deal for two masterpieces, but we could've done better than this.

4 out of 5 stars

Yes, These ARE Anamorphic... but still not quite perfect July 29, 2007
35 out of 38 found this review helpful

Two big steps forward, and one 1/2 step back. Contrary to the impression from the disc specs on the back of the jacket, the new MGM/Fox double feature disc DOES present the films 16:9 enhanced. They are also, surprisingly a big step up from the earlier R2 PAL discs , which for the longest time were the only way to satisfyingly watch these on a widescreen display or front projector.
Unfortunately they still aren't a home run. The picture in general consistently looks a little too 'hot' - contrast is jacked up which blows out the details in the highlights in many shots- also there is an at times over bearing yellow tint to the image in the countryside exteriors. Some EE and ringing are also visible in a few shots. Fine detail on the other hand is much improved over the PAL disc and artifacts related to compression are a monumental improvment over the first MGM release.
These should have been color timed a bit cooler- but on the whole, this new release easily represents the most watchable versions of these two classics yet (at least, not counting the widescreen Image laserdisc set that is now long out of print).

Its a shame that this release is so close, and yet still misses the mark. At least this one will suffice for a few years until the film are (hopefully) properly presented on one or both of the High Def formats.
The films themselves get 5 stars easy- the new disc gets 3.5 for PQ and AQ.

5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Films Re-Released August 8, 2007
19 out of 20 found this review helpful

For those who haven't seen these films originally released in the 80s, I give them my highest review. They're well worth seeing and everything from the story to the characters to the beautiful cinematography in the French village and countryside is exceptional. Another reviewer pointed out that the translation is a bit off in the subtitles. I've watched these films many times over the years both with and without subtitles and while there are obvious differences, I don't have a problem with them to the extent that the other reviewer did. Examples of differences that I picked up are quoting lengths in inches (presumably for an American audience) rather than the original centimeters. Several slang terms and phrases are also not translated literally sometimes eliminating little jokes and so on, but I don't think that detracts from the film at all.

Now as for the packaging, this new release is bare bones. Technically the picture, and sound are improved over previous releases in my opinion. It's presented in widescreen though not in an HD format. Refer to the other reviews for the technical mumbo-jumbo, but it looked great to me. The two subtitling choices are English and Spanish. Jean de Florette is on one side of the disc and the sequel on the other. That's it. There's nothing else. They could certainly have dome more here, but for the price, who's complaining?

Highly recommended!!!!! (one exclamation point for each star)

5 out of 5 stars

A four-hour French epic. October 15, 2007
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

These are two of my all time favorite French films. Adapted from the 1966 two-part novel by Marcel Pagnol, Jean De Florette and Manon of the Springs, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring (Manon des Sources) are award-winning 1986 companion films. Set in Provence in the 1920s, Jean de Florette tells the story of unscrupulous Cesar "Papet" Soubeyran (Yves Montand) and his nephew, Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil), who are desperate to buy a neighbouring farm for its water supply from a spring. After they accidentally kill the farm's owner, the title character (Gerard Depardieu) then inherits the farm and decides to pursue his naive city dream of growing vegetables and raising rabbits by living there with his wife (Elisabeth Depardieu) and beautiful daughter, Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna). Depardieu's performance as Jean, the hunchbacked tax collector from Paris, brings real heart and soul to this film. Upon learning of this inheritance, Cesar and Ugolin block the spring with concrete to force Jean to sell his land to them. Although he struggles to bring water from the well many miles away to irrigate his farm, Jean fails and ultimately Cesar and Ugolin obtain the farm and force Jean's family off of the land. Always suspicious of the Soubeyrans, the film ends with Manon watching Cesar and Ugolin opening the spring that could have saved her family.

The 1986 sequel, Manon des Sources, follows the events of Jean de Florette by roughly ten years. Jean's daughter Manon (Emmanuelle Beart) is now living in the countryside of Provence near Les Romarins, the farm once owned by her father, where she tends a herd of goats for an elderly Piedmontese squatter couple. She is an educated though feral young woman, who lives off the land by hunting for birds and rabbits. Meanwhile. the Soubeyrans have become successful at growing carnations at Les Romarins, using water from the spring. Dim-witted Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) is lovesick for the beautiful Manon, but she is repulsed by him. While searching for a lost goat, Manon discovers the source of the spring, and decides to block it with mud and rocks to take her revenge on the Soubeyrans. She then publicly accuses Cesar (Yves Montand) and Ugolain of the death of her father, and the Soubeyrans are disgraced. The film ends with two unexpected twists, a death and a discovery, leaving Cesar a broken man, prompting him to return the farm to Manon. Emmanuelle Beart's performance is superb (and although Daniel Auteil's Ugolin may not have won her heart in the film, he won Beart's heart in real life).

These two slowly-paced films are as brilliant as a Greek tragedy or a Thomas Hardy novel (Jude the Obscure (Penguin Classics), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics)). Those who enjoy these films might also enjoy two other films based on Marcel Pagnol's books, My Father's Glory & My Mother's Castle: Marcel Pagnol's Memories of Childhood: My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle.

G. Merritt

5 out of 5 stars

I hope this edition is not dubbed in English July 13, 2007
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

An amazing achievement. It must be in French with sub titles, I hope it is not dubbed in English. You don't have to speak French (or read the English subtitles, for that matter) to understand this movie. It is that perfect. I don't remember when I first saw this movie. I consider it one movie in two sequels with each sequel standing on its own as a complete cinematic drama. The acting is superb. At the climax of the drama, in Manon des Sources, the realization of the horrible truth on Cesar's (Yves Montand) face and in his eyes needed no words and had none. For me, everything that Gerard Depardieu has done pales to his portrayal of the happy but unlucky Jean De Florette. Daniel Auteuil is nearly unrecognizable in his protrayal of Galinette. This is a classic. Insular, provincial Provence provides the perfect backdrop for this drama spanning generations. We are all flawed, imperfect beings capable, through our actions, of terrible things that have horrible consequences. Every time I watch it I see something new. And, I've watched this one a lot.

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