1986 moving paintingRating: 18/20
Plot: The Soubeyran family once prospered, but times are tough in the French hills where Cesar and his nephew Ugolin struggle to keep their heads above water. Speaking of water, that's exactly what they really need. Ugolin's got an idea to grow roses and make a fortune, and the pair come up with an idea to buy the land adjacent to theirs and take advantage of a spring. A lot of things happen that will be more interesting to you if I don't tell you about them before a hunchback moves onto the adjacent land with his wife and daughter and ambitious dreams about raising bunnies and crops on soil that everybody else assumes is cursed. Cesar and Ugolin stop up the spring and work with nature against the titular hunchback.
I love that this movie gave me the chance to type the words titular hunchback. And I really loved every minute of this movie, the type of movie that has the ability to make a person breath better. Not to sound too pretentious, but most movies you get to see and hear. I'd almost swear my other senses were involved with Jean de Florette somehow. It's a film that absorbs the viewer from the opening shot and doesn't spit him back out until the closing credits. I doubt I'll ever see a movie where every single shot is perfect, but Jean de Florette comes awfully close. The lush French hills provide a setting where it might have been impossible to position a camera and not capture something gorgeous, a shot where it almost looks like my television oozes colorful foliage. But the cinematography is stunning from an opening shot with a moving car that has a weird orange glow to a whole bunch of "How the hell did they get this on film?" shots. Pause this movie at any point, and you've got a shot that was obviously meticulously constructed, artistic enough to almost get in the way of the storytelling. And there's a focus on the minute that really helps you connect to every fine detail of the story. Narratively and visually, It reminded me a lot of Days of Heaven, except in Jean de Florette, there's a lot more dialogue. The dialogue's good, too ("I don't shave anyone who is horizontal."), and the characters could almost be mistaken for comic ones if what was going on with them wasn't so dark or tragic. Take an early murder scene, for example. There's a goofy argument and an ensuing fight scene that is almost cartoonish. Jean de Florette definitely explores the lighter side of evil greed and tragic circumstance. Breathtakingly beautiful (one of my favorite scenes: a duet with harmonica and vocals) and overwhelmingly sad, this one is movie poetry and one of the best movies I've seen all year. That's despite an embarrassing hunchback.
Cory recommended this one, probably because parts of it could be described as delightful.
4 comments:
Even more than usual, I was really hoping you would like this, because unlike the immediately forgettable "The Invention of Lying", "Jean de Florette" really touched my heart.
The comparison to "Days of Heaven" is very apt. I thought the exact same thing when I was watching it, and this film would be on the short-list of most beautiful that I have seen. The characters are just as beautifully fleshed out as the landscape. The ever-optimistic Jean's losses are heartbreaking, and Cesar and Ugolin are two of the most powerful villians possible because they are so real, and not cookie-cutter evil. We understand their motives and the result of their actions creeps up in small, inevitable, horribly tragic increments, in the same way it is seen by the characters themselves.
I was totally caught of guard by how I was drawn into the story and place. With "Manon of the Spring", these are two of my favorite foreign films. Even though they require nearly four hours of time, it is four of the best hours that can be given to films. Thanks for doing that and for your great review. An 18, for me.
Oh, one more thing... how in the world does a college team (Indiana) give up 83 points in a football game?
I don't know anything about college football. I do know (from listening to some local sports talk radio) that IU has a pretty terrible team. They played Wisconsin, right? I think they might have a pretty good team.
I guess I have to credit Depardieu because Jean was so easy to like and root for. I guess I knew how things would end up because I'd seen too much information on the back of the dvd box about the sequel, but I was still pulling for the guy. And you're right; what happens to the poor family and Jean's dreams is heartbreaking. He did everything right and was cheated out of success. The way the story unfolds (slowly) somehow makes it even more real and painful.
I'll type out words about 'Manon' later on...I may need to watch a few scenes in that one over again, maybe in slow motion.
You're a naughty man... and no matter how many times you rewind, the camera will not move closer.
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