Manon des Sources - French Heritage Melodrama Analysis
Manon des Sources is a French film that follows the sequel to Jean de Florette, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It explores themes of love, revenge, and family dynamics in a rural setting. The film has been critically acclaimed for its portrayal of French heritage and the contrast between rural life and modern urban living.
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Presentation Transcript
Alex Gaze, Ellen Williams, Rob Lennon and Hannah Williams
Introduction Context Synopsis General themes/issues Star/scene analysis Quotes/critics/reception
Context Based on novel L Eau des Collines by Marcel Pagnol Sequel to Jean de Florette (shot as 1 film but released as 2) Seen by over 7 million people
Synopsis Ten years later, Manon, now grownup lives in the grotto with Baptistine, the well-keeper, and tends her goats. One day Ugolin sees naked Manon as she bathes in a mountain pool and falls in love with her. However, Manon is repulsed by him physically (and pyschologically) and is instead in love with Bernard, the schoolteacher, whose knife she found. Manon plots her revenge and blocks up the source of the spring. The film ends with Ugolin hanging himself after confessing to his crime and being rejected by Manon. C sar dies in his sleep after realising that Jean was his son.
Un film de patrimoine Powrie (2005): " 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des sources' launched the contemporary heritage genre in French cinema part of a postmodern tourism (Stella Artois) heritage films (emerged in France and UK in 1980s) - attempt to be historically and topographically accurate (the costume dramas of the 50s and 70s concentrated on narrative - here there is a change in emphasis to setting.) for many critics heritage cinema is seen as ideologically regressive and sentimentally nostalgic - they note that French heritage cinema is frequently dark in tone (eg. melodramatic and ultimately tragic conflict between father and son) Mazdon (2001): Film was part of a concerted effort by socialist government and Jack Lang (Culture Minister) to disseminate French cinema both domestically and abroad (vs. Hollywood). Promotion of films that drew on French heritage and provided popular entertainment. Edposito (2001): A time when family, community and the rigours of agricultural life gave a definite structure to life in sharp contrast to the insecurity and mutability of modern urban living.
Genre: Melodrama Melodrama definition family and inheritance Cross between pathos and humour-Powrie symbolised through Auteuil s character Talk of the Soubeyran line- central to plot JDF and MDS by their nostalgic celebration of mythical rurality, figure the most important social change in France this century, the conversion from a rural to industrial economy. (Powrie 1997)
Class Accent of farming class Everyone in the village knows each other and don t accept outsiders. (Manon accepted in the end) Farmer s clothes/ dirtiness Greedy-money is main concern (keeps talking about money and his uncle dying) Suit to impress Manon Manon s education- I m wary of a poor woman who reads
Gender Film depictss stereotypical views on gender roles Men: breadwinner, male community (caf ) BUT elements of feminity: suggestion of male impairment and excessive emotion through mise en sc ne. (Powrie 1997) Ribbon sewn on nipple=feminine (Powrie 1997) Women: supposed to be pretty and able to work on farm BUT Manon contradicts this image Tomboy In control (stops and starts the water supply) rather than controlled about as much like a goatherd as Catherine Deneuve in a promo for Chanel perfumes (Canby 1987) Silence fits with psychological motivation (Powrie 1997) (wild) Necessary precondition for male triangle- Father, bad Son and good real Son=melodrama (Powrie 1997)
Religion Shows French Catholicism Positive light: priest thinks they are hypocritical, people turn to church in times of need Satirical approach: village believes that the procession unblocked the spring. Ribbon= ritualistic
Daniel Auteuil = Ugolin Won the C sar and BAFTA award for best actor Character Traits: Simple-minded Lovesick for Manon- so deep he sews her ribbon on his nipple. (WHY??) Childlike: secret crush scene (show clip)
Critics Responses "However, in the final scenes, the film slides into a Hardyesque fatalism, with the loose ends tied up a little too neatly, resulting in an air of literary contrivance. It nevertheless succeeds, like the earlier film, in tapping the well-springs of one's emotions. TimeOut The popularity of JDF and MDS lies first in their reference to Pagnol s 1930s popular comedies (nostalgia for rural community as well as nostalgia for the golden age of cinema), and second in the fact that they are melodrama. Powrie, 1997. En 1952, Pagnol faisait une com die avec, pour toile de fond, un drame ; en 1963, il crit une com die dramatique, dont Berri ne retiendra que le drame en 1985. Blanc and Nannini
Our Thoughts On Auteuils Popularity Likeable despite debatable morals Child-like qualities add to likeability Down on his luck- pity Ugliness adds to funniness- not typical sex god.
Sources C cile Blanc et C line Nannini, Manon des sources : les l ments d'une trag die proven ale dans les adaptations cin matographiques et litt raires , http://www.bifi.fr/public/ap/article.php?id=99 Vincent Canby, Manon des Sources , New York Times, 1987 Maria Esposito, Jean de Florette: Patrimoine, the rural idyll and the 1980s , in Lucy Mazdon (ed.), France on Film: Reflections on Popular French Cinema, 2001 Lucy Mazdon, France on Film: Reflections on Popular French Cinema , 2001 Phil Powrie, French Cinema in the 1980s, 1997 Phil Powrie, "I m only here for the beer": post-tourism and the recycling of French heritage films , in The Media and the Tourist Imagination: Converging Cultures, edited by David Crouch, Felix Thompson and Rhona Jackson (London: Routledge, 2005), 143-53. http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/72741/manon-des-sources.html : TimeOut Review
