IMDb plot summary: A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
Directed by Claude Berri. Starring Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, and Elisabeth Depardieu.
(Major spoilers ahead about the tone of the ending.)
So when this movie was originally added for my movie challenge, it was paired alongside its sequel, but that gave me a total of 6 movies for the week, so I removed the sequel, figuring I'd watch it depending on how I felt about this one. Well, turns out I REALLY NEED TO SEE THE SEQUEL. It's clearly not a tagged-on afterthought, but is set up as an actual continuation of the story. It even feels a little weird reviewing this one without knowing having watched the other -- like only seeing half a movie. (I do intend to acquire the sequel and watch it this weekend, in between challenge weeks.)
That being said, though, I was completely enthralled by this movie. Depardieu is riveting as Jean -- I can't remember the last time I so badly wanted a character to WIN. Of course, that made the overall arc of the story incredibly tragic and makes me very eager to see the second, because I'm more than a little devastated at how this ended. The characters are vivid, the story compelling, and I can't wait to continue on.
Really, this DOES feel like writing a review having only seen half the movie. Here's to finishing the story this weekend.
4.5 stars.
Flickchart: #284 out of 2190, below Saving Mr. Banks and above Another Woman.
1 comment:
I had to watch this film for a French class that I took: SO moving! I don't know as that I ever got the chance to see the sequel. Now I'm going to have to go do that.
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