Jean de Florette

1986 • 2h 2m •

Drama

MOVIEVIBE Rating

★ 7.7/10

625 reviews

Your Rating

In a rural French village, an old man and his only remaining relative cast their covetous eyes on an adjoining vacant property. They need its spring water for growing their flowers, and are dismayed to hear that the man who has inherited it is moving in. They block up the spring and watch as their new neighbour tries to keep his crops watered from wells far afield through the hot summer. Though they see his desperate efforts are breaking his health and his wife and daughter's hearts, they think only of getting the water.

"For some men, land and water are more precious than flesh and blood."

Top Billed Cast

Yves Montand

César Soubeyran, aka 'le Papet'

Gérard Depardieu

Jean Cadoret, hunchback, son of Florette

Daniel Auteuil

Ugolin Soubeyran, nephew of Papet

Elisabeth Depardieu

Aimée Cadoret, wife of Jean

Margarita Lozano

Baptistine, Piedmontese of the cave

Ernestine Mazurowna

Manon Cadoret, daughter of Jean & Aimée

Armand Meffre

Philoxène, mayor

André Dupon

Pamphile, joiner

Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews

N Nutshell Verified TMDB Critic

2020-05-22

sub·tle (adjective) Definition: making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something.
One of the most celebrated French films of the 1980s, and with good reason. I don't think
there's ever been a film that better depicts evil so subtlety well as Jean de Florette, specifically
in terms of greed, covetousness, and selfishness. It is not at all a "thriller", but an engrossing
drama that envelops you with its deep characterizations and tragic story. Directed and co-written
by Claude Berri, and starring Yves Montand and Gerard Depardieu (both of them just excellent). This film, v...

F Filipe Manuel Neto Verified TMDB Critic

2023-06-16

**The power of envy and the ineffectiveness of farming by handbooks.**

The film is quite good, perhaps one of the best French films I've seen this year, which whets the appetite for the sequel, which is reputed to be even better. Simple, this film begins with the cunning maneuvers of a wealthy Provençal farmer to obtain cheaply the land of a neighboring property. It turns out that the owner is not up to this. When he dies, a short time later, the property goes to an heir who lives in the city, is a hunchback and doesn't know much about agriculture, having to read a lot to come up with idea...

C CinemaSerf Verified TMDB Critic

2024-05-06

"Ugolin" (Daniel Auteuil) returns from the war to his wealthy uncle "Papet" (Yves Montant) with some inspiration. He doesn't divulge his cunning plan until he is ready, and then presents the man with some perfectly cultivated carnations. It turns out there's money in flowers, but they also need a great deal of water. Gallons and gallons of the stuff. It occurs to "Papet" that their curmudgeonly neighbour might be willing to sell his land, upon which there is a clogged-up spring. No such luck there but an accident shortly afterwards fills them with hope. Sadly for them, their plans are further ...