Plot

A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her father's land caused his death years earlier.

After the death of Jean Cadoret, his wife has returned to the life of opera singer and his daughter Manon has grown up and become a gorgeous lonely shepherdess. Ugolin is now a thirty year-old wealthy bachelor planting carnations. His grandfather Cesar Soubeyran presses him to get married to carry the name of their family since he is the last man alive. When Ugolin sees Manon on the fields, he falls in love with her. One day, Manon plots revenge against Ugolin and Cesar and the whole town is in despair.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Roaming the rich valleys and the verdurous pastures of 1930s Provence, proud shepherdess, Manon, the beautiful eighteen-year-old daughter of late Jean Cadoret, is still reeling from the sudden death of her father. Unable to come to terms with the irreparable injustice, ten painful years after the events of Jean de Florette (1986), unsuspecting, golden-haired Manon catches the eye of the repulsive, prosperous flower cultivator, Ugolin, who, without an ounce of shame, summons up the courage to declare his love for her. However, the once-fertile soil of the wronged Romarins has a memory, and more than anything in the world, Manon thirsts for revenge. They say the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. How many more must suffer for Ugolin's blood-red carnations?—Nick Riganas

The film "Manon des Sources" (1986), together with "Jean de Florette" (1986), which PRECEDES IT, are the screen rendition of Marcel Pagnol's exquisite novel, "L'eau des Collines" ("The Water from the Hills," 1963). It is the story of two competing projects, one carried out by the city-dweller Jean Cadoret, and the other by the peasant Ugolin, set in the rustic and picturesque environment of Provence in the 1920s. It is a story of opposites: the city versus the country, modernity versus traditional, good versus bad, and memory versus oblivion.

"Manon des Sources," takes place some ten years after "Jean de Florette", also in the village of "les Bastides" and the surrounding hills. Ugolin's carnation-growing business is prospering, as inferred when he sells his flowers to a retailer who complains about their high prices. Manon (Emmanuelle Béart) is now a beautiful, wild shepherdess, spending her time in the hills and valleys of the area, tending her flock of goats. She totally ignores "les Bastides," and the villagers aware of her presence, reciprocate, calling her "la sauvageonne" - the wild child. She lives with her mother and Baptistine (Margarita Lozano), at "le Plantier." A new character is introduced, the new village school teacher, Bernard Olivier (Hippolyte Girardot) who is also an amateur mineralogist.

One day while hunting in the hills, Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil), comes across Manon who is dancing nude, playing a tune on her father's harmonica. This is the proverbial love-at-first-sight. Too shy to approach Manon directly, he continues to spy on her, following her in the hills. He sets traps to capture birds and rabbits, which he then places in her traps as gifts. From then on, Ugolin is obsessed with Manon. César Soubeyran (Yves Montand), "le Papet,", who had been pushing a reluctant Ugolin to marry in order to continue the Soubeyran line, is thrilled when Ugolin finally confesses, although in a rather unusual manner, his matrimonial intentions. Ugolin decides to "move in" and propose to Manon in a most clumsy and outrageous manner. She is repulsed by "the toad" and runs away from him (Actually, in real life, Daniel Auteuil was briefly married to Emmanuelle Béart).

Sometime later, Manon overhears two hunters from "les Bastides," Pamphile (André Dupon) and Cabridan (Pierre-Jean Rippert) discussing how Ugolin had plugged the spring on her father's property, and the fact that everybody in the village knew of the existence of that spring and kept quiet about it. Manon runs away, crying and screaming: she is crushed, and she swears to take revenge on Ugolin, César , and the whole village. Her opportunity arrives when she discovers a cave containing the source of the spring which supplies the water to Ugolin's property and to the village's square's fountain. She blocks the course of the spring: this is an unmitigated catastrophe for the whole village.

At first, Ugolin fetches the needed water for his flowers from the spring at "le Plantier," the way poor Jean used to do, but this is only a makeshift solution. Without the spring's flow, his carnation business is doomed, as will be the whole village. The village council summons a Government expert who basically tells them that they are on their own.

The following Sunday, the church is packed for the high Mass. The priest (Jean Bouchaud) tells the congregation that this disaster is God's response to a criminal act perpetrated by one among them. He calls for a procession to bring the spring back to life. Following the Mass, the entire village gathers in the school yard to celebrate Bernard's birthday.

At this gathering, Manon publicly accuses Ugolin and César of having plugged the spring. Her accusation is backed up by Eliacin (Didier Pain), who had been a witness to the bad deed. Although admitting to no wrongdoing, Ugolin totally breaks down and falls to his knees, imploring Manon to marry him. Many of the assembled villagers confess their treachery, as César drags a crushed Ugolin out of the assembly and back to his house.

Sometime later, César summons the mayor, Philoxène (Armand Meffre), and Belloiseau (Lucien Damiani), to "les Romarins," where they find Ugolin hanging from a tree, the same tree where young Manon's swing used to hang.

Bernard, invoking the memory of her father, convinces Manon to unplug the spring. The two set out in the middle of the night to free the water. The next day, as the priest's procession is taking place, the water starts flowing again from the village fountain. "Miracle!" some shout, but for Philoxene and others, it is mere coincidence.

Bernard and Manon get married, and soon she is with child.

An ancient village resident, the old, blind Delphine (Yvonne Gamy) returns to "les Bastides." She often meets with César in front of the church at dusk. During one of these meetings, Delphine recalls to César a certain letter that Florette had sent to him while he was in the army. This scene is the most heart-wrenching that one could imagine. Following Delphine's revelation, César loses all will to live, and one evening, after having confessed to the priest, he takes to his bed, and dies peacefully.