Jean Florette

sub·tle (adjective) Definition: making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something. One of the most celebrated French films of the 1980s, and with good reason. I don't think there's ever been a film that better depicts evil so subtlety well as Jean de Florette, specifically in terms of greed, covetousness, and selfishness. It is not at all a "thriller", but an engrossing drama that…

**The power of envy and the ineffectiveness of farming by handbooks.** The film is quite good, perhaps one of the best French films I've seen this year, which whets the appetite for the sequel, which is reputed to be even better. Simple, this film begins with the cunning maneuvers of a wealthy Provençal farmer to obtain cheaply the land of a neighboring property. It turns out that the owner is …

"Ugolin" (Daniel Auteuil) returns from the war to his wealthy uncle "Papet" (Yves Montant) with some inspiration. He doesn't divulge his cunning plan until he is ready, and then presents the man with some perfectly cultivated carnations. It turns out there's money in flowers, but they also need a great deal of water. Gallons and gallons of the stuff. It occurs to "Papet" that their curmudgeonly ne…