50 Movies Where Evil Won
48. Jean De Florette
Plot: Greedy landowner Cesar Soubeyran (Yves Montand) and his nephew Ugolin (Daniel Auteuil) conspire to cheat a new arrival named Jean (Gerard Depardieu) out of the land he has inherited.
It might seem odd to say that a French period drama from the 1980s has anything in common with Avengers: Infinity War, but yes, it does. Just like Infinity War, Jean de Florette is the first half of a story, one which ends with a shocking victory for its villains.
Jean de Florette is a jolly good film, but be warned: it will make you angry.
There is something utterly insidious about the way Cesar and Ugolin destroy Jean's life. They do this by blocking a nearby spring, meaning that Jean can't run his farm. He becomes more and more desperate and eventually dies in an accident on his farm. After this happens, the remorseless pair buys the land off Jean's widow and begins a new, profitable venture.
An infuriating ending this might've been, but thankfully, unlike with Infinity War, the direct sequel came out only a few months later. As such, before long, audiences were able to savour the wonderful spectacle of Jean's grown-up daughter exposing Cesar and Ugolin's crimes and giving them their just desserts.