Manons Rache

I have been showing Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources in my French classroom for the past ten years. What I find most fascinating about this process is that for many of the students, it is their first experience in watching a foreign film with subtitles, and initially they are not too receptive to the experience. But very frequently, after having seen Jean de Florette ( I show it in first year French), they are so anxious to see what happens that they go and rent the sequel on their own and want to discuss it in class.

This film and its sequel are studies in human nature, in addition to being traveloges of some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. Some of the observations that the students have made about the characters is that they refer to the land and the water with reverential terms. The characters' downfalls are brought about usually because of their inability to accept their restrictions.

If you want two films to use in a French classroom where the scenery is beautiful, the dialogue is usually understandable and the storyline is acceptable to the general public (since we all have to answer to the school boards and the administration), these are the films to use. In addition, if you haven't seen them and you want to just lose yourself in two remarkable films just for the love of good films, these are the ones.