Claude Berri Collection

Collection of four French period dramas directed by Claude Berri. 'Jean De Florette' (1986) is set in Provence in the 1930s where city-bred Jean (Gérard Depardieu) brings his family to his mother's old farm with plans for an idyllic life on the land. However, his scheming neighbours, Le Papet (Yves Montand) and Ugolin (Daniel Auteil), covet his farm's little-known water source and the resulting feud escalates tragically. 'Manon Des Sources' (1986) is the sequel to 'Jean De Florette' and begins ten years after Jean's death. His daughter Manon (Emmanuelle Beart) haunts the hills overlooking the land stolen from her father by Le Papet and Ugolin. When Manon learns the truth behind her father's death, she sets out to exact her revenge, depriving the entire community of their water supply just as they deprived Jean. 'Lucie Aubrac' (1997) is set during World War II in occupied France. Lucie Samuel (Carole Bouquet) has to pose as her own husband Raymond (Auteuil)'s mistress in order to be allowed to visit him in prison after he is arrested at a Resistance meeting. Using her underground pseudonym of Aubrac, Lucie sets about organising her fellow Resistance members to rescue Raymond, risking all of their lives in the process. Finally, 'Germinal' (1993) is set in the coal mines of Northern France during the Second Napoleonic Empire and depicts the events leading up to a disastrous and drawn out strike with Etienne Lantier (Renaud), an unemployed itinerant who is drawn into the heat and toil of the mines.