Jean de Florette

In Provence a farmer and his nephew secretly block the spring on a neighbouring plot so they can buy the land cheaply. A hunchbacked man arrives from the city to settle there and raise rabbits. He does not know the spring exists and has to haul water from miles away. The film draws its tension from that gap in knowledge: the viewer knows the truth from the start and can only watch. The narrative does not make monsters of the two men; it shows their scheming as everyday. It is adapted from Marcel Pagnol's novel. Gerard Depardieu, Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil are in the cast. A real warning: the story does not end here. Its second half was made as a separate film, Manon des Sources, and watching this one alone leaves the narrative unfinished.