Well Digger’s Daughter, The (2011)

Original title La Fille du puisatier

Director Daniel Auteuil

Twenty-five years after hemade his name acting in Claude Berri’s adaptations of two ofMarcel Pagnol’smost famous novels, Jean de Florette andManon des sources, Daniel Auteuil returns to theworld of simple country life in Provence (and the place of his own childhood) for his first feature as a director. La fille du puisatier, originallymade as a filmby thewriter himself in 1940, deals with an unmarried girl, Patricia (Astrid Berges-Frisbey), the daughter of the well-digger Pascal Amoretti (Auteuil),who gets herself pregnant just after turning 18. The father-to-be, Jacques (Nicolas Duvauchelle) is not around, having been called up as a fighter pilot in thewar and he has gonemissing, presumed dead. Since he is also the son of awealthy businessman,MrMazel (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), the chances are that since the young couplewere only together on two occasions, neither the boy nor his family – and certainly not his mother (Sabine Azéma) – are likely to admit to having anything to dowith the pregnant daughter of a humblewell-digger. It’s beautifully shot in perpetual sunshine and superbly scored by Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech),whomakes fine use of early 1940s period songs to heighten the atmosphere. The simplicity of Auteuil’s direction gives the film its truly authentic charm. - French Film Festival UK 2011