With Manon des sources and its second part, Ugolin, "in the newly acquired freedom of his inspiration, (Pagnol) was to give Provence its universal epic." (André Bazin) The story of a wild shepherdess (Jacqueline Pagnol) who takes revenge on the villagers responsible for the death of her father by diverting the spring which supplies them with water will be familiar to those who saw Claude Berri's 1986 twin remake Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring. "Pagnol didn't have Berri's technical polish and basic filmmaking knowhow, but his unselfconscious feeling for his people and his sly manner in exposing their foibles and petty-mindedness gives the B&W film a large edge on its glossy color successor." (Lenny Borger, Variety) This leisurely tale speaks to the question of responsibility for our fellows that runs a natural course through the Pagnol films, quite taken for granted until the postwar Manon, where the villagers must be made to understand that one can be guilty of silence. (Note: Shown in French with written synopsis.)