jean de florette vs. manon des sources

watched this only yesterday, the first one anyway (giant rabbits!), for the first time since university. neglected to tape the second so will have to wait until they come around again.

the first one was so full of so many great moments. and it truly felt epic, even though it was really just about a little patch of land in a little french backwater, and a very straightforward story. the sequel felt, conversely, very small, even though it was about generational blahblah and the unintended consequences of bad intentions blahblahblah

i love both. i have to say, i really like the sequel, even tho you have to suspend your disbelief in a way - she is completely crazy/selfish, but the drama wouldn't be the same if she wasn't. to me it was just part of the epic nature of the whole story, it had to tie together very theatrically.

although i remember the first one as being more romantic in that languid, french way - seductive. definitely the kind of movie that makes me wanna just pick up and leave Brooklyn.

the first one was full of community scenes, class vs. class, outsider vs. insider, folk wisdom vs. modern methods - and turned most of these binaries inside out, so far that sometimes they ended up back where you expected them - now as a result of evidence and a journey, rather than preconception.

the way the villagers treated the family when they went into town for bread was shocking, for instance! (i had the luxury of watching both of these with a person who grew up in southern france. she wasn't shocked by how the villagers treated the family AT ALL.)

she also mentioned that the two movies tell the story of just ONE book, so the sequel is really part II, and almost isn't meant to stand on its own. i don't think it can, really. (the first one could, and does, though.) that said, there are all kinds of loose ends i wanted to hear about and never did! what about the adorable old couple who lived on the other side of the property, who taught manon how to snare birds?

yes i was just wondeirng about that couple. well that's the thing - i was almost thrown by the word "sequel" because i always looked at it as just Part 2. that's really cool u watched it with a southern france native, that must have been very very interesting.

and yes that's what i loved about the first one were all those community scenes, class issues and cultural values. that was really interesting to watch.

Part 2 to me is almost like the 2nd half of Wuthering Heights - the thriller portion, u know?

lose/lose

oh whatever. jean de f. is the most watched non-english flick ever!

Not quite, probably.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/9446

i read that off the DVD box, i have no idea if it's true

haha - all-time french box office winners:

1 TITANIC
2 ASTERIX AND OBELIX: MISSION CLEOPATRE

Titanic huh...

well jean de florette is definitely popular or whatever. i think it's also commonly used in french courses in the states.