‘Two Films by Claude Berri’ Blu-ray Review: The Criterion Collection

The first of Claude Berri’s two-film adaptation of Marcel Pagnol’s novel The Water of the Hills, Jean de Florette begins within the aftermath of World Warfare I, although it might be simple to not understand it. The Provençal countryside is a vestige of the Previous World not but swept away by the battle. Folks nonetheless get round principally by horse and wagon, put on garments knit by locals, and have interaction in farming and craftwork strategies which have absolutely remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Even the movie’s underlying plot, of farmer Ugolin Soubeyran (Daniel Auteuil) and his uncle, César (Yves Montand), making an attempt to amass land so as to develop carnations, suggests a nod to the tulip mania of the sixteenth century.

The Soubeyans’ plan to maximise their land holdings quickly spirals into the form of hapless however grim crime wave worthy of the Coen brothers. Trying first to purchase out neighbor Pique-Bouffigue’s (Marcel Champel) plot of hilly farmland, Ugolin finally ends up by chance killing the person, then intentionally plugs the land’s water nicely when the farm passes to a relative, a kindly hunchback named Jean (Gérard Depardieu) who brings his spouse (Élisabeth Depardieu) and younger daughter, Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna), to his new dwelling within the hopes of elevating hares.

Unaware of his neighbors’ subterfuge, Jean finds the land tough to irrigate. And regardless of his friendliness, he meets a chilly reception from the close by villagers owing to each his bodily deformity and efforts by Ugolin and César, whilst they pose as pals and confidants to Jean and his household, to whip up the group’s hostility to encourage the newcomers to depart.

Berri and cinematographer Bruno Nuytten juxtapose the mordant comedy of this story with attractive photos of the hilly, verdant Provençal countryside. The edenic landscapes present an ironic distinction for the heavy use of Biblical imagery and the xenophobic and grasping villagers’ spiritual superstitions that spotlight their sanctimony. Amusingly, each Jean and Ugolin usually air their frustrations at God himself, the previous begging for rain to water his arid land and the latter raging at a storm like King Lear, despondent that it’ll assist Jean.

Issues construct to a head within the movie’s last minutes, by which a tragic mishap seals Ugolin and César’s victory in seizing the coveted land. It’s a second they rejoice by unblocking the spring that they sealed and performing a grotesque baptism as Manon, witnessing them, unleashes a scream of ache and rage at what these males have stolen from her household.

Manon of the Spring, which was launched the identical yr as Jean de Florette, opens a decade after the occasions of the primary movie. Ugolin and César are thriving carnation farmers, however their easygoing lives are thrown into disarray when a now-teenaged Manon (now performed by Emmanuelle Béart) returns to the world and catches Ugolin’s eye someday when he stumbles throughout her dancing by a stream within the nude. Resolving to marry her, Ugolin heedlessly units in movement Manon’s long-awaited revenge, which she seeks not solely on the person and his uncle however the complete group who shunned her father and helped dispossess her household.

The second movie sacrifices a few of the pitch-black comedy of its predecessor whereas leaning extra into fable. When Manon finds a approach to weaponize the identical strategies that had been used in opposition to her father, villagers totally give themselves over to superstition, fueled as they’re by a gnawing sense that God is punishing them for his or her sins concerning Jean. Berri slowly replaces romantic vistas of the land for cramped, static tableaux of locals in assembly homes and the city cathedral as they supplicate first politicians, then the Almighty for aid as their crops wither and die.

Scenes of the villagers bickering and pleading develop repetitious, and Manon of the Spring lacks Jean de Florette’s stability of magnificence and chunk. The movie is much extra partaking when specializing in Ugolin’s doomed makes an attempt to woo Manon. Although twice her age, the person typically comes throughout as bashful and virginal, asking his uncle’s recommendation on find out how to speak to ladies and approaching the woman with overly sturdy declarations of devotion. However his grinning face runs proper into the stone wall of Manon’s visage as she radiates disdain for him. Manon hardly ever speaks, however Béart’s piercing stare and clenched-jaw rigidity says greater than sufficient.

Manon of the Spring resolves the overarching story as considered one of regrets by Ugolin and César as their actions meet up with them and immediate totally different emotional responses in every man. Finally, it’s the outdated man’s weary disgrace that units the tone for the movie’s last act, recasting the cinematography’s greens and yellows in autumnal solemnity. This tonal shift transforms Manon of the Spring from a caustic morality play into one thing extra reflective, an elegy to a lifestyle whose residents didn’t totally respect till they themselves had helped to finish it.

Picture/Sound

Sourced from Pathé restorations of each movies, the Criterion Collection’s 4K transfers current the heavy yellow and inexperienced hues of Bruno Nuytten’s on-location cinematography in all its heat. Moments the place daylight threatens to clean out the picture by no means lose element, which is sharp sufficient all through the films which you could nearly really feel the tough, handcrafted materials of peasant clothes. The soundtrack completely captures the idyllic ambient sounds of bugs and leaves rustling within the breeze whereas retaining dialogue clear.

Extras

Criterion’s launch comes with two substantial documentaries. One profiles Claude Berri, providing an outline of his profession earlier than specializing in Manon of the Spring lacks Jean de Florette. The different documentary is a 2017 retrospective of the movies’ making and their field workplace success and affect on tourism to France. A booklet essay by movie professor Sue Harris analyzes the movie as an adaptation of the wildly common supply novel and likewise calls consideration to the daring resolution to restrict a mega-star like Gérard Depardieu, then on the peak of his reputation, to the primary film whereas making the then-unknown Emmanuelle Béart the protagonist of the second.

General

Claude Berri’s attractive, acidic diptych of rural greed seems flawless on Criterion’s launch.