jeustace7 This movie gave me the same elated, lighter than air feelings as Chaplin's "City Lights." It was amazing to see the film never dodge a single important factor in all the sordid repercussions of the titular woman's misdeeds. At the same time, I never felt like I was being dragged through emotional hell just for some theoretical catharsis. At times the film reminded me of a less block-headed and ham-fisted version of "Fiddler on the Roof" (also no singing Jews). Lastly, and most beautifully, the film offers up a shining example of the benign influence of a strong, loving father. It makes you remember the sort of picture of God that a father is supposed to be.

Hot Potato The Well Digger's Daughter. There is something rather attractive about this simple predictable plot, but a bit more complex, quaint movie. You want to very much like it, but it's ultimately very disappointing. You try to adapt to the different morals that are claimed to be of a different time, then you realize there is nothing immoral, just no real moral core to grab on to. You seem to love the sweet quiet convent girl Patricia, and she grows on you as the movie progresses and her character develops. You begin to think by the end she is maybe the only true moral character in the lot and then very disappointingly she becomes as shallow as the rest. Say, like with Jacques, is he just played by a poor actor or is he as simple, shallow and pointless as he comes across. Then of course Pascal, the main character, appears complex, you try to read him as his character develops and progresses. You eventually realize he is a strange morality that all the plot wires do not connect. Simple, so watch it that way, if you look for more it falls apart. Ehhh!!

robert-temple-1 Another reviewer has rightly pointed out that the title of this film in English is going to keep audiences away from the English-speaking cinemas in droves. But the original French title of which it is a translation, LA FILLE DU PUISATIER, had to be retained in France. That is because it is a remake of a famous and classic film of 1940 directed by Marcel Pagnol from his own novel, and thus it needed to have the same title, so that French people would know what it was. The screenplay adaptation of the remake is by Daniel Auteuil, who also directed the film and starred in it (playing the part of the well-digger). Auteuil, one of France's most famous actors, has a long history of association with Marcel Pagnol's tales of early 20th century Provence. Those who like French movies will certainly remember the pair of immensely popular films based on Pagnol novels which were directed by Claude Berri and starred Daniel Auteuil, JEAN DE FLORETTE and MANON DES SOURCES (both 1986). At the moment three further Pagnol remakes are being filmed, with Auteuil in the leading role of César, of Pagnol's famous trilogy of films, known as 'The Marseilles Trilogy'. The individual tiles of the trilogy are CÉSAR, FANNY, and MARIUS. Let us hope that a full-fledged Pagnol revival gets going, as the old films as well as the new are a pure delight. Credit for keeping the flame alive must go to Pagnol's remarkable daughter, whom I visited long ago in her office on the far side of the Periphérique. She is a powerful and determined personality and she kept the old Pagnol films in distribution and arranged for all the new ones to be made, and is a fierce guardian of the integrity and continuity of the family's creative flame. The Pagnol films are about 'real people' in the South of France, where Pagnol came from, and the thick accents in the Marseilles Trilogy are a marvel to the ear, and as different from Parisian French as a Mississippi drawl is from the speech of an inhabitant of Brooklyn, or as an impenetrable Glasgow accent is from the way they speak in London. This film is a pure delight, beautifully directed by Auteuil, and featuring as his eldest daughter (the one of the title) a fresh young actress of the utmost charm named Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, aged 25, who is part Spanish and as beautiful as a rose petal sparking with Provencal dew in the morning. The story allows her to have been sent away and educated in Paris, to explain why she does not speak like the locals. She is absolutely perfect casting, has all the right qualities for the part, and does a wonderful job. Auteuil is, as usual, superb. The rest of the cast are also excellent. This is a very poignant and emotional tale, as Pagnol stories usually are, and I would rate it as an instant classic. Everyone should see it, though outside of France, I wonder how many really will. It would be a shame for anyone who enjoys and looks forward to a superb French film to miss it, as this is in the top rank.

kinolieber This marvelous film is based on a Pagnol novel which I had never heard of. Maybe it's well-known in France and so the title is familiar to audiences there. But in the US "The Well Digger's Daughter" should keep people away from this film in droves. In fact, the film is an old fashioned fable set in the French countryside during the period of World War I. Even though the plot turns are seen coming a mile away, the film has such charm and simple feeling and wisdom, that there is enormous pleasure in watching the story unfold. Auteuil is perfect as the father, as is every other actor, especially Astrid Bergès-Frisbey as the daughter of the title and Nicolas Duvauchelle as her 'prince'. And the music by Andre Desplat is one of his best scores. The setting and the lives of the characters are so beautifully depicted, there is so much pleasure to be had in entering their world for two hours, that it seems a shame that American audiences will have to overcome their disinclination to see a movie about a well-digger and his daughter when there is this rich and deeply emotional story waiting for them in the cinema.