The Well Digger's Daughter (2012)
It's the beginning of the WWII. South of France. Patricia, 18, is the oldest daughter of a well-digger, Pascal, who considers her a princess because of her moral qualities. She's kind, devoted. One day, she briefly meets a young man, Jacques, the son of Mazel, owner of the shop where her father buy his material. He's handsome and teasing. Her father's friend, Felipe, would love to marry her, and he invites her to an aviation show. She accepts his invitation only because she knows Jacques is a pilot and will be there. Soon, she'll carry his child, and he'll be gone, and the family will have to deal with this out-of-wedlock pregnancy...
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hyped garbage
Horrible, fascist and poorly acted
Excellent, a Must See
Marcel Pagnol was a wonderful French writer, director and playwright. His stories are indeed classics and have been filmed, re-filmed and even re-filmed again. So, it's not at all surprising that Daniel Auteuil has decided to take a stab at Pagnol's classic stories--not just starring in them but writing the new screenplays and directing them. I say that's not surprising because not only are these wonderful stories, but Auteuil also has previously been in a couple other Pagnol stories--"Jean de Florette" and "Manon Des Sources". His four new films consist of this film, "The Well-Digger's Daughter" as well as the wonderful trilogy consisting of "Marius", "Fanny" and "Cesar"--which just recently debuted and which are not yet available here in the States. I cannot wait to see these three most recent movies."The Well-Digger's Daughter" is a story with many similarities to the Fanny Trilogy Auteuil made following this film. All are set in Provence, concern ordinary folks and are about the complications that arise from an unplanned pregnancy.The story begins with the daughter, Patricia (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) meeting a handsome young man, Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle) when she's on her way to bring her father, Pascal (Daniel Auteuil), his lunch. The audience KNOWS based on their meeting that the two are destined to be a number. However, there are some complications---such as Felipe (Kad Merad) wanting to marry Patricia. But, of course, much more serious complications arise--and I don't really want to get to them here--just see the film.I love films about ordinary people--and Pagnol's are about as ordinary as you can find! Some may not be quite so captivated by these folks-- they aren't exactly rich, cultured or the Hollywood types. But, I am pretty ordinary as are 99% of movie viewers! So why not enjoy the lives and loves of folks we can relate to?! Plus, the story is so nicely written, lovingly directed and enjoyable that I strongly recommend you give it a try.By the way, Pascal's grandson, who he treats as if it's HIS kid is actually Zachary Auteuil--the actor/director's real life son!
(I never saw the original.) This story is probably too dated for young viewers uninterested in the morality of a bygone age (though it should make us all thrilled those days are dead, dead, dead).The film is certainly gorgeous to look at. Costumes, the countryside, even the old cars, all beautiful. Most of the acting is great except for the female lead who has only one expression--sad with optional tears. If she's lustful, hopeful, worried, offended, the face stays in that one expression. It becomes wearying then frustrating and makes her less "beautiful" with every frame. (I was reminded of Kristen Stewart biting her lip all the danged time.) Perhaps she was trying to play the girl as mildly retarded (which could be--she certainly was rather an idiot at every turn), but whyever this choice, it didn't work for me, and a viewer's belief in her attractiveness and "goodness" (doormattishness) is crucial to make the story work.In the end, this movie is a big "so what?" to me. The story has been told before, it's hopelessly outdated, and it adds nothing to our understanding of human nature. It's not a happy ending seen through my world view. The mother-in-law gets away with horrors that suggest the rest of the young couple's life will also be hellish because of her. And the "I'll take you as a consolation prize" ending for the sister and soldier is equally as horrifying to contemplate.
We were lucky enough to view this marvelous French film yesterday in Fremantle and both of us were touched by the simple story of boy meets girl; girl has his child but things turnout well in the end. The conflicting problems are the unspoken classism of France in those early WW I years that more obviously exist in England but are relatively unknown in France. Some negative commentators spoke from a Feminist perspective about the girl being only a cardboard figure without substance but from our point of view those considerations were unimportant given the beauty of the cinematography and the relative newness of the unfolding story (that is, how the various people played their roles at that time in French history.) We were not prepared to rubbish the film because of modern concerns; the actions of the characters all made sense to us and we considered them to be one example from a plethora of similar timeless actions. Perhaps the only fault that could be drawn was that the ending seemed rather more pat than reality would have allowed in those days.The actors played their roles beautifully and the nuances of the script were delightful in their unfolding. There were many insights (to me as a foreigner) into life at that time in France and as a result I am not prepared to make any negative comments about the story nor the script. We thought it was a beautiful film and well-worth the time and expense to see it.
Writer-director Marcel Pagnol set the bar pretty high in terms of film-making, not least when he made La Fille du puisatier in 1940 with some heavy hitters in the shape of Raimu, Fernandel and Charpin as respectively the eponymous well-digger, his friend and colleague Felipe, and Monsiour Mazel, the father of Jacques, who leaves the eponymous daughter pregnant and goes to war. Luckily Danile Auteuil is lion-hearted and makes a great fist of his affectionate remake plying the Raimu role himself with Kad Merad as the friend and Jean-Pierre Darrousin as Monsiour Mazel plus, for good measure, Sabine Azema as Madame Mazel. This is a film with charm to spare and wonderful shots of Province that tell us immediately why so many English people move there whilst inspiring others to follow suit. It's a film for all the family which chooses to avoid weightier issues - for example 'honor' marriages which, in the present day lead often to Asian girls choosing death or having death chosen for them by parents obsessed with honor - and concentrate on wholesome entertainment. Highly recommended.