The first of a stunning double act of films (the sequel, Manon des Sources, followed a year later) about life in a Provençal village in the 1920s.

Since this first film makes you want to get up, shake the villains by the ears, and let the hero know what's going on, there's no doubt that it works.

What's more surprising is that there are so few dull patches in such a lengthy saga.

The scene is the sunscorched French Provence.

Miserly farmer Yves Montand and his idiot nephew Daniel Auteuil covet the fertile land Montand has already unsuccessfully killed for, now farmed by the hunchbacked ex-tax collector Jean (Gerard Depardieu), who brings his wife and daughter from the city, determined to make money from the land instead of the landed.

Auteuil, feigning friendship, and Montand, lurking icily in the background, cement up a secret wellspring on Depardieu's land, and hope to see him dig his own grave before selling out to them for peanuts.

The actors all keep well in character, the country life is thoroughly believable, and you'll want to see the second film in the hope that scoundrels get what they deserve.