The Well-Digger's Daughter

"I don't like the corked wine", Pascal said. In the movie it is losely translated as "I don't like the fancy wine" which is not quite the same. This sentence summarizes this movie. The pure mentality of the French villager "à la campagne". He prefers his own wine, (they make and cork their own wine from their own vineyards). He doesn't want to buy somebody else's wine. He doesn't want to be like "les Parisiens". He has contempt for the Parisians. He doesn't want to be part of the city "elite". He wants to live peacefully in the countryside with his family, his rules, and his routine. "Vous savez les impôts moi, on en a marre..."The movie is about Pascal (Daniel Auteil, a well-digger) father of six daughters living the hard life in the countryside in France, at the start of World War I. He always wanted a son, and he tried and tried, but he got six daughters. His wife died after the last daughter was born. He sent the oldest daughter Patricia (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) to live in Paris when she was young, but after his wife died he called her back to help him raise the other five daughters. She is well educated and he wants her to get married with his friend/assistant Felipe (Kad Merad), a nice simple man but much older than her. Of course she doesn't like him and is falling for Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle), a wealthy young pilot just in town for few days, whose parents are rich and own the big grocery store in town. She is impregnated by him just before he is called back into duty. What is going to happen next? Is he going to come back from the war? Is she going to tell her dad about the situation? Are they going to keep the baby? How the villagers and Jacques' parents going to react to these events? Those are some of the questions coming to mind. You will definitely get surprised by the answers and the plot of the movie. It is not what you expect. Hence, Marcel Pagnol's genius...He understands the human mind better than anybody else!This is another great adaptation of the work of Marcel Pagnol by Daniel Auteil, but this time he is also the director. Twenty five years later Daniel Auteil went back to the source that made him famous. Who forgot Ugolin playing alongside Yves Montand (César) in "Jean de Florette/Manon de source"? Daniel Auteil has the exact same accent, the same movements and same interaction with the camera, just few extra pounds. After I watched this movie I had to watch "Manon de source" again!This is a fabulous film and Daniel Auteuil takes over with his very poignant acting. He delivers some of the most powerful performance I have ever seen by an actor in several scenes. If you really liked "Jean de Florette/Manon de source" you will definitely appreciate this movie. Is not as intense as the other two movies, has a different plot, but really describes the mentality of the villagers in the countryside in France that is slowly disappearing these days because the people are disappearing. If you want to see and feel the French countryside mentality during the 1900's, then watch the movie!Five stars all around for everything but mostly for the powerful performances of all actors which are remarkable.

It is a great comfort to watch if you are wondering about the status between the wealthy and the working class. First of all, it is not as adventurous as Titanic, but you can enjoy the conflict between the rich boy's family and the well-digger's family when they all try to get along together for the sake of the baby. The wealthy evolved during the movie which is one of the reasons why i like the movie. And this movie also provide a happy ending for everyone including the well-digger's friend. Lastly, I liked the scenes a lot because they made the movie beautiful but also the plot made the scenes real. Because even something as terrible as a baby born out of wedlock can happen during one of those beautiful days out of no where. P.S., this movie was based on a French classic book, so that is bonus even through I never read French, but I hope to read the book after mastering French.In case you are wondering, it does have English CC

My wife and I are pretty picky about the movies we watch; we don't often get to sit down for two hours and we want to be glad we spent the time as we did. We both enjoyed this film.This particular story is beautifully wrought. The sunshine, the casting, the details... it's quite an immersion. There is nothing easy about this story. As a result, it feels more like real life. None of the characters is completely good or completely bad.How many films have you watched where the circumstances are the plot and the characters are the figures around which the plot happens? The Well-Digger's Daughter is the opposite: the development of the characters is the plot. Something about that arrangement will resonate with you. Yes, there are circumstances that drive outcomes, but you will find yourself more concerned with the relationships in front of you.One of the things I particularly appreciated about this film is that it doesn't glorify poor decisions. It doesn't inject artificial romance into a situation where real romance wouldn't yet exist. As a result, you will identify closely with the situations because you've personally felt those conflicting emotions at some point in your own life.Finally, you will get the most out of the story if you keep the context in mind. The time, the culture, and the society in which it happens all have bearing on the outcome. If these characters existed today in middle-class America, they might behave differently, but you will still be able to relate.Be prepared to think about this one from time to time even days after you've watched it. Enjoy!

Well written and finely acted. A heartwarming family drama that takes place in the 1940s and at the start of World War 1. It's about love and "class"in the south of France. It's about how choices and decisions made by one can affect an entire family's life.Single father and well-digger Pascal is raising a raising a small army of 6 girls in the Provence countryside at the start of World War I. His eldest teenage daughter, Patricia, has just returned home from Paris where she had been staying with her dad's more affluent sister. She returned to help her widowed father with the girls. Pascal is proud of how she has become such a fine young woman and has hopes of marrying her off to his loyal assistant. But, one day while taking lunch to her father she has chance encounter with a handsome air pilot from a wealthy family. As a result she finds herself in love and begins an illicit affair with him. She becomes pregnant and tries to tell him but before she can, Jacques is immediately called into duty. When she tells her father what has happened and that she wants to keep the child, he is angry and feels she will disgrace herself and the family if she stays with them so Pascal has to make a heart-wrenching decision about the fate of his wayward child.

This is unashamedly French cinema of the old school. Beautifully photographed in the sunlit countryside of Provence and a good old-fashioned story depicted by a super cast. It is early days in WW2 and the six daughters of well-digger Pascal (Auteil) fuss around him like hens round a pail of corn. The eldest daughter ,Patricia,(Astrid Berges-Frisbey) meets the handsome son of a well-to-do village merchant whilst washing some clothes down by a nearby river. They decide to meet again, a relationship develops but the young man has to go off to war (he is a pilot), without knowing that the girl has become pregnant. Time passes and the young man, Jacques, is lost and thought to be a casualty of the war. The baby,a boy, is born and a conflict arises between the family of Jacques and Pascal,who yearns for a boy in the family, over its upbringing. It is a story that deals with class and position in local society - the common artisan workman and the wealthy family of Jacques. This is a wonderfully entertaining film, the outcome of which keeps one guessing right up to the end. The film's opening scene of Patricia walking through poppy strewn fields assures the viewer that they are in for a treat! And there is no disappoinment in this area! The movie maybe not be in the same league as 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon Des Source' but it is not fair to compare against those masterpieces. At least this films story is set in the same countryside and you'll be glad you did not miss this treat !

This was a delightful film, starring Daniel Auteuil. I loved the story, which involves young love, a pregnancy, the father away in the air-force during the first world war and what transpires when it is discovered. The scenery was visually appealing and the music delicately done, all bringing to life the summer country side and the life of the girl's father, the well digger and all his daughters. For me this is a watch again film, and I'm delighted to have it in my library.

This is a charming film with a warm heart as one might expect from these film makers and their writer. The acting is good, the scenery is lovely, the story line simple and affecting. So why 4 stars and not 5? Perhaps it is that we're all so used to stronger meat these days but I did feel that it was just little bloodless. This certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film; it was delightful to bask in the Provencal sun and immerse myself in rustic France but I am not sure that the film is especially memorable otherwise. If you love French cinema and enjoy satisfactory endings, don't hesitate.

This is a great story by Marcel Pagnol. All of Marcel Pagnol's stories are a delight. It is a story about love, honour and pride.The film is a remake which is brilliant as the original film is now dated. The story takes place at the beginning of WWII (not WWI). In the original film Marcel Pagnol inserted a speech by Marechal Petain, so definitely WWII.We knew that Daniel Auteuil was a very good actor and now he's proven that he is also a very good director.This film is very moving. I enjoyed it and will watch it again and again.

A rather depressingly sad story relating an all too common consequence of love and war. Happily, and perhaps surprisingly, all turns out well in the end! Daniel Auteuil at his best (as ever) as an actor, and now also as a director, and good performances from all the cast.