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Amazon.co.uk Review
Daniel Auteuil made the jump from in front of the camera to behind it with The Well Digger’s Daughter, choosing to adapt Marcel Pagnol’s story for the big screen. Pagnol also penned the source material to Jean De Florette and Manon Des Sources, two of the most acclaimed and popular French films of the past few decades. And while The Well Digger’s Daughter doesn’t sit side by side with them, it’s still a commendable piece of cinema.
Unashamedly old fashioned in its style, The Well Digger’s Daughter is set around World War II, with Auteuil himself playing the well digger of the film’s title. One of his daughters, meanwhile, is Patricia, and it’s she who begins a short relationship with the son of a wealthy family. He soon disappears, she discovers that she’s pregnant, and from there, the film’s core drama ensues.
You’d hardly call The Well Digger’s Daughter a hard-nosed tail, though, with Auteuil opting for a gentle tone, and an unfussy style for his feature. He recruits a strong cast, too, not least Astrid Berges-Frisbey, who previously made her Hollywood debut in Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
To Auteuil’s credit, it’s a beautifully shot film, one that gently deals with issues of class and standing, even if it’s never got any intention of landing a heavy punch. Still, the film is ultimately a strong, well-mounted production, albeit one that might not linger too long in your brain afterwards. It really is lovely to look at, though. --Jon Foster
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: It's the beginning of the WWII. South of France. Beautiful village girl Patricia (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), 18, is the oldest daughter of a well-digger, Pascal (Daniel Auteuil), 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... ...The Well-Digger's Daughter ( La fille du puisatier ) ( The Well Digger's Daughter )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Set in the sundrenched Provence countryside near the town of Salon at the outbreak of World War 2, this soft-centred but often surprisingly moving tale follows the well-worn trail of the innocent young girl who falls for a wealthy cad. In this case, Patricia, daughter of a simple but fiercely proud well-digger finds herself pregnant after Jacques, spoiled son of the owner of the local hardware store, has been sent off to fight at the front. How will her father react when he learns that his "angelic princess" is no better than other girls? Will Jacques's doting mother feel her son should "do the decent thing" and marry the girl? As the well-digger observes, "You can't trust people who sell tools but don't use them."
Patricia is more than just a pretty face. In addition to receiving a period of education in Paris with a wealthy benefactor, she has a strong sense of honesty and integrity which may pierce Jacques's worldly cynicism, although you wonder whether he would be capable of being faithful to her in the long run.
There are some entertaining further plot twists in the dogged devotion to Patricia of Félipe,assistant to the well-digger Pascal. In turn, Félipe is loved in longsuffering silence by Patricia's younger sister Amanda. Then there is Pascal's blend of shrewdness and stubborn stupidity, his rueful shouldering of the burden of six daughters after his wife's death.
We see an exploration of some of the dilemmas of French rural society. It is shameful for a daughter to have a bastard child, yet a man's dearest wish is to have a boy child to bear his surname, even if at one remove as a grandson....
The film is well-directed by the respected French actor Daniel Auteuil who also plays the role of the well-digger, apparently drawing on his native southern accent. Although his acting may seem a little over the top at times, I have met Frenchmen prone to the vivid expression of such deep and rapid shifts of emotion.
Recommended as a watchable and entertaining if lightweight drama.
Patricia is more than just a pretty face. In addition to receiving a period of education in Paris with a wealthy benefactor, she has a strong sense of honesty and integrity which may pierce Jacques's worldly cynicism, although you wonder whether he would be capable of being faithful to her in the long run.
There are some entertaining further plot twists in the dogged devotion to Patricia of Félipe,assistant to the well-digger Pascal. In turn, Félipe is loved in longsuffering silence by Patricia's younger sister Amanda. Then there is Pascal's blend of shrewdness and stubborn stupidity, his rueful shouldering of the burden of six daughters after his wife's death.
We see an exploration of some of the dilemmas of French rural society. It is shameful for a daughter to have a bastard child, yet a man's dearest wish is to have a boy child to bear his surname, even if at one remove as a grandson....
The film is well-directed by the respected French actor Daniel Auteuil who also plays the role of the well-digger, apparently drawing on his native southern accent. Although his acting may seem a little over the top at times, I have met Frenchmen prone to the vivid expression of such deep and rapid shifts of emotion.
Recommended as a watchable and entertaining if lightweight drama.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Like 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des Sources', this film is based on a story by Maurice Pagnol. Like those two films also, it is beautifully filmed in very pretty French countryside where it does not seem to rain (and perhaps it doesn't in real life, or not much). Visually, it is lovely. It is also a feel-good film with a pleasant dash of French quirkiness. Daniel Auteuil plays Pascal Amoretti, the well-digger of the title, a very decent man with an old-fashioned and rather whimsical set of rural values, who has brought up six pretty daughters - the youngest is four years old, the oldest, Patricia, eighteen. With his assistant Felipe, an entirely good-natured and kindly man, he plies his energetic trade. Patricia meets Jacques Mazel, the son of the local store-keeper, charming and rather dashing (and trustworthy?). She is then fairly rapidly pregnant, he is sent off to war, and they are separated. In any case, the social gap between them is significant, and the Mazels want nothing to do with Amoretti and his family. This leads to Major Complications. The plot works itself out and it all ends .... well, I shouldn't say, so I shan't. It is a thoroughly pleasant film with excellent acting from Auteuil and the other principals. It does not quite have the sharp edge of 'Manon des Sources' and 'Jean', but the course of true love does not run smoothly and it is not a sentimental film #except where the baby is concerned ; he cries as little as it rains in his part of the world#. It is surprising and amusing in places, and there is genuine tenderness in some scenes, especially where the well-digger and his daughter are concerned. I don't think it's a great film, but it is a good one and well worth a look.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Excellent, portraying the problems experienced by many outside the immediate protagonists of a relationship that goes further than it ought. It has a charm often found in French films that is totally absent from the products of the Hollyowood factory.
A must watch!
A must watch!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
a reader
Very engaging and well acted and written film. The rural scenery reminiscent of Jean de la Floret. Heartwarming not over sentimental.
Published 1 month ago by ReaderA
Daniel Auteuil and Marcel Pagnol what at great combination.
The Well-Digger's Daughter is a brilliant film. Just go for it. I have not the faintest idea why french films hardly ever reach Danish Movie Theaters or Danish Television, because... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Isabella Balkert
fatherly love
It is one of the best film made and played by Auteuil.
To appreciate the film one must remember how family spirit and pride was held very high at the time. Read more
To appreciate the film one must remember how family spirit and pride was held very high at the time. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cesar G. Esterman
The Well Digger's Daughter
An absolutely beautiful and stunning film. From the moment the film opens, with the shot of Patricia (the eldest daughter of the well digger and superbly played by Astrid... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Chalcotribist
enchanting film about a French family
The Well Digger's Daughter [DVD]This was such a delightful film, I was truly sad when it ended.It is one of Marcel Pagnol's wonderful stories, and once again brought to film by the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Margaret
A fabulous film!
Seen at this year's Alliance Francaise French Film Festival, glorious cinematography a feast for the eye. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Signed, Hopeful.
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