In "Jean de Florette," as you may recall, a young hunchbacked man from Paris (Gerard Depardieu) came with his wife and infant daughter to farm some land he had inherited in a rural section of France. The locals did not greet him kindly, and one of the local patriarchs (Yves Montand) sabotaged his efforts by blocking the spring that fed his land. The young man worked morning to night to haul water for his goats and the flowers that he wished to grow, but in the end the effort killed him. Montand and his worthless nephew (Daniel Auteuil) were then able to buy the land cheaply.
The nephew already has a bride in mind: the beautiful Manon (Emmanuelle Beart), daughter of the dead man, who tends goats on the mountainside and lives in poverty, although she has received a good education. Unfortunately for the nephew, he has a rival for her affections in the local schoolteacher. As the story unfolds, Manon discovers by accident that the nephew and his uncle blocked her father's spring. And when she accidentally discovers the source of the water for the whole village, she has her revenge by cutting off the water of those who killed her father.
The first film begins by introducing us to the two characters around which the entire story revolves. They are Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand), a wealthy landowner in rural France, and his only living relative, a nephew named Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil). Since Cesar never fathered any children (or so he believes), Ugolin is the last of the Soubeyrans, and, more than anything else, Cesar is devoted to the continuation of his proud bloodline. So, even though Ugolin is ugly, tentative, and slow on the uptake, Cesar aids and mentors him, intending to set him up financially so that he can attract a healthy wife who will bear him many children. Ugolin has his heart set on developing a carnation farm (rather than raising animals or food), and, when Cesar learns how much the flowers are worth, he wholeheartedly supports the endeavor. But there is a problem. Carnations require copious amounts of water during the withering heat of the long, hot summer - far more than Ugolin's well can provide. There is a nearby spring, but it is on Ugolin's next-door neighbor's property, and he refuses to sell. After the man's "sudden" death, Cesar feels certain that Ugolin will be able to buy the property from the heirs, but, to be sure, the two of them block up the spring, making the property next-to-useless for farming purposes. Nevertheless, the new owner of the property, Jean Cadoret (Gerard Depardieu), the son of Florette, an old flame of Cesar's, has dreams of living off the land and raising rabbits. So, despite the paucity of water, he brings his wife, Aimee (Elisabeth Depardieu), and daughter, Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna), to live there. Seeking to find ways to encourage Jean to leave and sell him the land, Ugolin befriends the former city-dweller, but stands by and says nothing as Jean's quest for water ultimately results in his death.
The second movie begins ten years after the first ends. Ugolin is a prosperous man, but Cesar is worried that he is still unmarried. Manon (now played by Emmanuelle BÃart) has become a recluse, living the life of a shepherdess in the wilds near the village. One day, Ugolin spies her bathing nude and is instantly lovestruck. He begins an inept courtship, but Manon finds him repulsive. Simultaneously, she is attracted to a newcomer to the town, Bernard Olivier (Hippolyte Girardot). Then the past returns to haunt Cesar and Ugolin, as it is revealed that the two conspired to hide the spring's existence from Jean, causing his death. Learning of this, Manon embarks upon a course of revenge. By the end of the film, Ugolin has hanged himself and Cesar has had the most bitter shock imaginable. Jean Cadoret, the man he worked so assiduously to destroy, was his son by Florette. The Soubeyran line thus ends because of his own actions.
One noteworthy difference between the two films is the variance in tones. The first movie is lighter, due in large part to the boundless optimism displayed by Jean. There are times when it seems that he might succeed despite the obstacles thrown in his way by Cesar and Ugolin. Ugolin, meanwhile is deeply conflicted about his actions. He genuinely likes Jean and wants to help him. Only the prodding of Cesar and dreams of thousands of carnations keep him from revealing the truth about the spring. His actions are despicable, but he is not, and a pleasant sort of camaraderie develops between Jean and Ugolin.
Greenhouse Collections
Eric walked through earlier and saw the wonderful collections from all over the world. That is true, one can visit the plants of the world in one day. Eric asks Stijn to talk about some of the COLLECTIONS here. They have cactus collections, in the spring the glass house features spring flowers from U.S. but you can visit also in the winter and they will still have spring flowers in the winter.
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Plants Flower Theatre
Every season it's another view. Now they have the geraniums, before that lovely spring bulbs. So every time of the year one comes here it's changing. When Manon comes to visit this garden the gardeners are always like come, come, come, come you should look because now this is flowering and this is flowering.
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Eric walked through earlier and saw the wonderful collections from all over the world. That is true, one can visit the plants of the world in one day. Eric asks Stijn to talk about some of the COLLECTIONS here. They have cactus collections, in the spring the glass house features spring flowers from U.S. but you can visit also in the winter and they will still have spring flowers in the winter. They have an evolution greenhouse, it's very important to see the evolution of the plants, where they come from and where they stay. Then they have the edible plants and their origination. They also have the Mediterranean greenhouse. The biggest area is devoted to the rainforest, it was the last renovated.
Eric would like to know about some of the PLANTS that Jeroen finds particularly interesting. First would be Aloysia citriodora. It's a very interesting plant, the smell of this flower is like lemon. They produce very small, white flowers from June through August. A very important use of this plant is that you can use the leaves of the plant to make tea. Interesting. What are some of the other plants that throughout the course of the year are exciting? Cynara cardunculus is a very important plant in this garden. It is from the sunflower family and one can eat the stems of the plant. They have a similar taste as an artichoke but it's a little bit bitter. There's a trick to make the stems of the cardunculus sweeter. In early spring you put a terra cotta pot over the plant. Since it's dark under the terra cotta pot you get bleached stems and they taste sweeter. So it's like white asparagus. Although tasty it can be a somewhat invasive plant, so keep that in mind.
Every season it's another view. Now they have the geraniums, before that lovely spring bulbs. So every time of the year one comes here it's changing. When Manon comes to visit this garden the gardeners are always like come, come, come, come you should look because now this is flowering and this is flowering. So if she comes stressed from her computer work it's wonderful, the fragrance, all the color. Not unlike the herbarium this is a very diverse garden that has year around interest also. And the pines provide a structure to the garden. Because we have a botanical spot there are more the cultivars. And many of the cultivars are old cultivars, from the nineteenth century. But if one wants to go to a part of the garden where there are newer cultivars, 1950, 1960 that too is available. They are are still trying to find more newer cultivars to really have a nice story to tell the public as they wander around this beautiful garden.
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