Manon of the Spring (1986) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★ 3

  Director Claude Berri's sequel to Jean De Florette is a wickedly delicious tale of revenge and karmic justice!

  Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) the feral beauty seeks vengeance against the two men (Yves Montand and Daniel Auteuil) whom conspired against her father in the previous film!

  Secrets, twists and explosive consequences drive this film to its uber dramatic conclusion!

  Fabulous and deeply satisfying! Cinematography to die for!

• Review by Josh Gillam ★★★★½ 6

  MILD SPOILERS

  This follow-up to Jean de Florette caps off the story elements left hanging before, tying it all together in a heart-wrenching, elegiac conclusion that both expands and adds on to the original along with the characters who inhabit it, the actions of Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) causing ripple effects on wealthy landowner César (Yves Montand) and nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil).

  Director Claude Berri uses this to explore the consequences of their previous actions, returning to the fable-like quality of the first instalment while at the same time adding an almost Biblical feel to its deeply allegorical story, with the townspeople and our lead duo…

• Review by sara joy ✿ 3

  nothing will ever compare to my entire french class gasping in horror while ugolin f*cking sewed her ribbon to his nipple

• Review by Evan T ★★★★★ 7

  Poetic justice. Claude Berri’s sequel to Jean de Florette is an improvement in all the right ways, finalising the various threads left unwoven in the first instalment. Whilst the first half follows a similar path to Florette, revelling in the nostalgia through its awe-inspiring music and beautifully photographed landscapes, the latter half takes on a whole new form. With its concluding twenty minutes delivering what’s undoubtedly one of the greatest twists the screen has ever seen, it’s a genuine shame more people haven’t experienced this masterwork. Few revelatory tales rival it, Yves Montand’s rueful performance anchoring the tragedy all the more. Emmanuelle Béart’s radiance mirrors the heavenly allure of Provence perfectly, making all of the pieces fit, and leaving me…

• Review by Ben Hibburd ☘🏀 ★★★★

  I've put off reviewing this film for the last week or so because there's not a lot I have to say about it. As a direct sequel to the brilliant "Jean de Florette" it does a good job of threading the same narrative beats and themes of its predecessor. However, the biggest issue is that Manon herself is just not as interesting as Gérard Depardieu's Jean.

  The film feels lackadaisical when compared to "Jean de Florette." I was close to giving this film a three and a half star rating but the last twenty or so minutes are by far and away the best part of the film. It ends on a cathartic yet deeply sad and tragic note. Driving…

• Review by Graham

  OK, hands up who's a complete sap for the impressionist paintings of Pierre-August Renoir. Not just me I'm guessing, and in this classically drawn film, Claude Berri captured the very essence of the French countryside, it's history and the people that lived it.

  Starring the top-form and eternally effervescent Emmanuelle Béart, Manon des Sources is the sequel to Jean de Florette, and was released in the same year. It centres on daughter Manon's quest to bring justice to the men that wronged her family.

  A romantic film full of beauty, deceit, treachery and lush Provencal scenery told in a compelling manner by a cast of fantastic performers, this is everything I look for in French cinema. Gorgeous.

• Review by munta ★★★★★ 1

  emmanuelle béart. That's the review

• Review by Ford H ★★★★

  I don't mean to sound petty, but Roger Ebert was wrong to give this 4/4 stars and only 3.5/4 to Jean de Florette, which is, in fact, the better film.

  Manon of the Spring, which is the continuation of the story from Jean de Florette, is still pretty good albeit not as hard-hitting from an emotional perspective. This is more of a tragic comedy compared to the straight tragedy of its predecessor. In Manon, there's irony at pretty much every turn, and we find ourselves never rooting for the nefarious protagonists. Nevertheless, they are compelling characters who find their past misdeeds coming back to bite them in the ass. While it's not necessary to watch Jean de Florette to understand…

• Review by Milo Paulus ★★★★½ 2

  Like the first part of this epic story, this continuation is subtly and acutely directed by French filmmaker Claude Berri and with it's ardent milieu depictions and efficient narrative structure, it draws an incessantly engaging portrayal of a young French woman who has been waiting several years to get justice for what happened to her family a decade earlier in time. The young woman named Manon is played by Emmanuelle Béart, an actress who owns this movie with hardly saying a word at all. We feel her every emotion all through the glances of her eyes that repress all the feelings until the final implosion held behind her blond, fiery, almost leonine hair.

  In fact, like in the first film,…

• Review by KYK

  - f*ck me up on a good vengeful daughter story tbh
  - FYI Angel Olsen told me this is one of her favorite movies
  - There's a joke to be made here about the men being literally thirsty
  - Watching this right after the prequel, Jean de Florette, I kept thinking how together they could be like Settlers of Catan: The Movie??? First part is, like, about a selfish dude hogging all the resources/harbors and refusing to trade and then in part two Manon rolls a seven and puts down the robber and cuts them off from the spring you know....... Pls ignore me thank you.

• Review by Iain Dickie ★★★★ 2

  Yes, sweet, sweet revenge.

  P.S Emmanuelle Beart is one of the most beautiful woman I have seen on screen.

• Review by Edgar Cochran ✝️ ★★★★★ 3

  Since the very beginning, the movie says to us with open arms: "Welcome back". And so we are back to the world that the first part of this wonderful epic made us think we had already abandoned forever. A "Bressonic" touch is invading the inner conflicts of the village and Manon is a rare flower blossoming in an environment she was meant to merge in. Magnificently, the circle of events is closed as a Greek tragedy, and wonderful scenes decorate the powerful revelations given in the last 20 minutes.

  96/100