French Faculty Publications
French
7-2000
Which Original Works? Tracking Sophocles'
Narrative in "Jean de Florette" and "Manon des
Sources"
Marie-Jo Binet
Gettysburg College
Follow this and additional works at: http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/frenchfac
Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the French and Francophone Language and
Literature Commons
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item.
Binet, Marie-Jo. "Which Original Works? Tracking Sophocles' Narrative in 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des Sources.'" Literature/
Film Quarterly 28.1 ( July 2000).
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of
the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/frenchfac/14
This open access article is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an
authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Which Original Works? Tracking Sophocles' Narrative in "Jean de
Florette" and "Manon des Sources"
Abstract
Pagnol's two-part novel, L'Eau des collines ( 1962), was inspired by his own films, Manon des sources and
Ugolin, released ten years before (1952). Much better known are Berri's 1986 films bearing the novel's titles
Jean de Florette and Manon des sources.
In this essay I want to examine the architectural and thematic transformations between the three types of
"texts:'
I will show that each piece is referring to a different diegetic universe. Pagnol's film is a celebration of
provencal verbal activity, ` joie de vivre," and of the Christian notions of redemption and forgiveness. The
musical motif of L'Arlesienne by Bizet is a direct reference to the Christian Epiphany. The overwhelming,
pervasive theme in Pagnol's novel is the unalterable life of the seamless feminine goddess whose multiple body
flows in all women, in the earth, and in the water. Her special dwelling is in the hills where the priestess
Manon operates. In Berri's films, the emphasis is clearly on fate and on the blindness of the tragic hero(es),
and the soundtrack includes Verdi's Forza Del Destino as a haunting motif. [excerpt]
Keywords
Jean de Florette, Manon des sources, film studies
Disciplines
Film and Media Studies | French and Francophone Language and Literature
This article is available at The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: http://cupola.gettysburg.edu/frenchfac/14