Writer-director Marcel Pagnol set the bar pretty high in terms of film-making, not least when he made La Fille du puisatier in 1940 with some heavy hitters in the shape of Raimu, Fernandel and Charpin as respectively the eponymous well-digger, his friend and colleague Felipe, and Monsiour Mazel, the father of Jacques, who leaves the eponymous daughter pregnant and goes to war. Luckily Danile Auteuil is lion-hearted and makes a great fist of his affectionate remake plying the Raimu role himself with Kad Merad as the friend and Jean-Pierre Darrousin as Monsiour Mazel plus, for good measure, Sabine Azema as Madame Mazel. This is a film with charm to spare and wonderful shots of Province that tell us immediately why so many English people move there whilst inspiring others to follow suit. It's a film for all the family which chooses to avoid weightier issues - for example 'honor' marriages which, in the present day lead often to Asian girls choosing death or having death chosen for them by parents obsessed with honor - and concentrate on wholesome entertainment. Highly recommended.
Review of The Well-Digger's Daughter
