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The Well Digger's Daughter

Play trailer Poster for The Well Digger's Daughter Released Jul 20, 2012 1h 47m Romance Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 41 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A Frenchman feels torn between honor and his love for his daughter when she gets into trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.

Critics Reviews

View All (41) Critics Reviews
Tom Long Detroit News "The Well-Digger's Daughter" isn't a mind-blower; it's not supposed to be. It's a light lunch with an old friend whom it's good to see again. Rated: B Oct 12, 2012 Full Review Drew Hunt Chicago Reader Auteuil's direction is a lot like his acting -- well-mannered and likable, yet staid and ultimately inconsequential. Oct 4, 2012 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times To call "The Well Digger's Daughter" an old-fashioned film is to pay it a compliment. Here is a love story embedded in traditional values. Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 4, 2012 Full Review Aaron Pinkston Battleship Pretension Overall, The Well-Digger's Daughter doesn't entrust any great future as a filmmaker for Auteuil, but it provides enough old-fashioned entertainment to please on the most minor levels. Mar 10, 2021 Full Review PJ Nabarro Patrick Nabarro A thoroughly well-told, if ultimately fairly slight, tale of family honour lost and regained in a France around the time of the Second World War. Rated: 3/5 Oct 31, 2019 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com This humdrum Thomas Hardy narrative knock-off is as memorable as the holes its main character digs in the ground. Jul 25, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (69) audience reviews
Test T I watched this on DVD recently. I knew very little about it, except what was on the cover, and the story seemed interesting. I had not noticed that the film is in French with English subtitles, and as the movie started my heart sank! I'm really not a fan of subtitles, as I find them very distracting and often struggle to keep up. As I suspected, this is a good story vibrantly told using well developed characters set in beautiful French scenery. The cinematography is excellent making the film a pleasure to watch. So I battled on reading the subtitles until the end, and thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing I did notice was that some of the French dialogue seemed a bit odd when translated into English, and some of the things I found quite outrageous may have been intended to be humorous. I also thought that the French seem to put far too much emphasis on trivial matters by making long speeches which seemed out of place, but again this could be a cultural tranlation issue. Over all the film was very good and well worth watching! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/24 Full Review Carin M Beautiful movie..both in story and scenery. Loved it! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/06/23 Full Review Liam D A very well made romance that trends old ground without losing the lustor Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member The greatest 01 hour: and 47 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Ken R Quite a surprise to find a film filled with all the human elements that make life special, especially from a contemporary moviemaker. A sterling job in all categories from Screenplay writer, director, actor, Daniel Auteuil - breathing believable life into a re-make of Marcel Pagnol's original 1940 classic. Marvelous performances from all concerned make even the elements and situations that could have seemed clichéd fully believable and alive. Gorgeous location cinematography from veteran D.O.P. Jean-Françoise Robin, complimented with a thoughtfully melodic music score from Award winner Alexandre Desplat - make this a winner for audiences able to recognize the hallmarks of classic storytelling. No explosions, needless sex scenes, or car chases, just humanity from days gone by showcased in glowing style. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/15/22 Full Review Audience Member Loved all the characters and thank goodness there was a happy ending! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Well Digger's Daughter

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A Frenchman feels torn between honor and his love for his daughter when she gets into trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.
Director
Daniel Auteuil
Producer
Alain Sarde
Screenwriter
Daniel Auteuil
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Genre
Romance, Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 20, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 25, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$385.4K
Runtime
1h 47m