Word: ugolin
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Jean de Florette, set in the 1920s, described the attempt of the clever Papet (Yves Montand) and his dim-witted nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil)--the last remaining members of what used to be the richest and most glorious family in the region--to wrest the land of a neighboring farmer, a hunchback...
MONTAND IS a vivid old rascal. He is protective of the family fortune, telling Ugolin that it was only by careful economy that he had managed to save what was left of the money his ancestors squandered. With his broad hat and cane, Montand is the essence of the country gentleman. Except that he's always scheming. Scheming to save his money, enlarge his property, control the town, and marry off his nephew. But his schemes don't always work out as he expects...
...Ugolin is a tribute to Barri's ability as a director. He has turned an apparently handsome actor into a rat-faced, bucktoothed farmer. And Auteuil's appearance isn't the only thing that makes his character seem real. As he galumphs across the screen, utters phrases whose humor he cannot comprehend, and makes abortive attempts to win Manon's heart, he seems to be the archetypal peasant...
...Berri's cinematography sets out to record the archetypical Provencal village. Barri shoots glassy stares at the Midi countryside as easily as close-ups of Ugolin's unshaven cheek or Papet at the table. Unfortunately, Manon appears to be just another landscape. Beart is an extraordinary beauty. She has long blond hair and baby-blue eyes and a face that could launch a thousand ships. But she has almost no lines in the entire two hours of the film...
Shrewd, grasping, rich old Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand) and his simpleton nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) covet their neighbor's land. Each has his reasons, but they are not good enough. Not enough, that is, to justify their terrible plot to force the decent, innocent newcomer known as Jean de Florette (Gerard Depardieu), his patient wife and lovely child to sell their holdings at a distressed price. The Soubeyrans' idea is simple: stop up the neighbor's spring. But the execution is grim and protracted; the plotters stand by, offering sympathy but no practical assistance as Jean descends first to exhaustion...
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