Jacquou le Croquant

Jacquou le Croquant is a 2007 French historical film, based on the novel by Eugène Le Roy and on a popular TV miniseries. Set in the Dordogne during the Bourbon Restoration, it tells the story of a young peasant who leads a revolt against an evil nobleman. It was nominated for two César Awards in 2008.

Plot

1815. Jacquou, a young peasant from the Périgord region, lives happily with his parents. Misfortune falls upon the family when Jacquou's father is hunted for killing servants of a cruel and arrogant nobleman, the Count of Nansac. Jacquou's father flees the town but promises his son that he will join the family soon. Jacquou is acquainted with Galiote, Nansac's daughter, and her care-taker Lina when his mother works as a laundry maid at Nansac's castle with her identity untold. Jacquou at first tries to harm Galiote by letting pigs out of the pen as she throws pebbles at them, leaving the pigs agitated. However he changes his mind and saves her, leaving both Lina and Galiote impressed and grateful. Soon after this incident Jacquou's mother loses her job and is forced to leave the house with Jacquou. To make everything worse, all her attempts to save her husband fail as well. Jacquou's father is then captured, tried and executed in prison. Upon this knowledge, she makes Jacquou swear to avenge his father's death. Jacquou's mother soon succumbs to a combination of grief, starvation and exposure.

Jacquou le Croquant (miniseries)

Jacquou le Croquant is a 1969 French miniseries in 6 episodes: five 90-minute episodes and one 120-minute episode. The series was directed by Stellio Lorenzi and aired from October 4, 1969 to November 8, 1969 on Office de radiodiffusion télévision française channel 1.

Plot

1819: Jacquou Féral is an 8-year-old boy in the Périgord region of France. His father, Martin Féral, also called Martissou, is a tenant farmer for the Count of Nansac, who lives in Château de l'Herm and exploits peasants under contract to him. Nansac's steward, Laborie, doubles the Féral family's dues on a whim, and when his wife, Marie, successfully negotiates back to the original dues, Laborie then accuses Martin of illegally owning a hunting dog. Laborie kills the dog, his bullet ricocheting and injuring Marie, at which Martin, furious, kills Laborie. Aware of the potential consequences, Martin escapes into the nearby forest, leaving his family at the farm.

Nansac eventually has Martin Féral sent to prison, where he dies. Meanwhile, he evicts Marie and Jacquou, and seizes their sheep and remaining wheat, effectively condemning them to poverty and itinerancy. In time, Marie dies of hunger and sorrow. Jacquou, now an orphan, is taken in by the parish priest Bonnal, who gives the young man an education. As an adult, Jacquou continues fighting the injustice brought on his family, and dreams of avenging them. As increasing numbers of peasants are no longer able to survive the harsh rule of landowners, Jacquou leads a peasant rebellion against Nansac. His desire for revenge is transformed into a fight for justice, in which he proves that a simple "croquant", which means "yokel", is the equal of lords and ladies.