(1986; French) Returning from military service to his rustic home outside a small village of Provence, Galinette "Ugolin" Soubeyran (Daniel Auteuil), a simpleton, greets his uncle Cesar "Le Papet" (Yves Montand), who says he intends to leave his land upon his passing to his nephew. Both bachelors, Cesar, hoping Ugolin will someday have children, urges him to marry. But Ugolin, living like a caveman in a pig stye, has another idea ("It's a secret") to raise and sell Imperial carnations.

There's a problem: the flowers require great quantities of water to thrive, but this region of France is parched, receiving sparse rain. However, in crazy old Pique-Bouffique's adjacent field a blocked spring might be cleared to run plentifully. When the two Soubeyrans approach the owner, up in a tree pruning, with an offer to purchase his land but leaving him his dwelling, he insults them; in a fight with Papet, Bouffique is fatally injured and left under the tree.

His land becomes the inheritance of Florette de Bérengère, Camion's daughter and Bouffique's sister, whom Papet once knew well (perhaps even once loved). To convince her to sell to them (a widow fond of things money can buy), Papet and Ugolin temporarily plug the spring to make the property less appealing to anyone's inspection. Soon after news reaches Papet of Florette's demise as well; her heir is her 35-year-old son, Jean Cadoret (Gérard Depardieu), a hunchback and tax collector in the city, with a wife and child.

Unexpectedly Jean arrives from Crespin with his household belongings, his wife Aimée (Elisabeth Depardieu, at the time Gérard's spouse), and their young daughter Manon (Ernestine Mazurowna), glad to escape city life and exclaiming: ""It's lovelier than Paradise!"

Following Cesar's strategy to discourage the family from remaining for long, Ugolin acts like a generous neighbor, offering water from his cistern, roofing tiles (after having destroyed the roof earlier), and a plough; Cesar thinks that by pushing the city-bred Jean in the direction he's determined to make for himself farming (pointing out to Ugolin Jean's bookish ignorance of experience at planting) he'll fail all the sooner (predicting Jean to be broke within six months).

Calculating that the money his mother left him will allow him three years to make the farm pay off, using books and manuals, putting "faith in statistics and provenance," laboring optimistically (having the advantage of excellent soil), he begins an ambitious project of raising rabbits, squash, corn, and other vegetables. Following fortuitous early rains, Jean enjoys a surprisingly good spring harvest; however, by August the drought and heat are ruinous to his crops and killing his rabbits. Desperately walking back and forth from the trickle of the spring in the grotto a mile away, hauling water on his back and with a donkey, Jean asks Ugolin if he may rent his sturdier mule.

Cesar reminds his nephew ("Your mule would saved him"), who's inclined to grant the request, of their primary objective by asking if he wants to make friends or grow carnations. When Jean's prayers for rain are ignored - "There's nobody up there!" - with his plight appearing perilous, his venture apparently doomed, he comes up with a new idea (convincing himself that it's "mathematically impossible" for the drought to last) to dig a new well, which will either produce water or fill up with the next downpour.

Making an offer to buy the land while leaving him the cottage, Ugolin warns Jean that he'll die working so hard in the summer heat, leaving his wife and child without a provider. Having exhausted all of his funds, Jean grasps from Ugolin's conversation at a rope of hope: he can mortgage the dwelling for 4,000 francs. Ready with the cash, Cesar finances the mortgage, figuring he'll get either the farm or interest on the loan, while observing of Jean's newest plan: "dynamite and drinking don't mix."

This is the first of two parts, based on Marcel Pagnol's historical novels, adapted to the screen by director Claude Berri and co-writer Gérard Brach.

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