The Well Digger's Daughter

Nicolas Duvauchelle stars as Jacques Mazel, a 26-year-old pilot in the French Air Force and the only child of a wealthy shopkeeper, who is fishing in a stream near his parents’ home. On the bank appears 18-year-old Patricia Amoretti, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, the eldest daughter of a widowed well-digger, taking lunch to her father, Pascal, and his employee, Jean-Pierre Darroussin as Félipe. Jacques carries her across the stream and, after seeing her again at an air display the next day, takes her for a ride on his motorbike. On their way home, they stop in a field to make love.

Later that night, Jacques is called for an air campaign in Africa, so, unable to keep a rendezvous with Patricia in the morning, he asks his mother to deliver a letter. She, not approving his choice of company, burns the letter.

Patricia, who concludes that Jacques has rejected her because they are from different social classes, discovers that she is pregnant. Confronted by Pascal, the parents of Jacques reject the idea that their son conceived a child out of wedlock and refuse to acknowledge the expected baby. To spare his five other daughters from the social opprobrium of an illegitimate child in the family, Pascal sends Patricia to have her baby with his sister in another village.

News arrives that Jacques is missing, his plane having gone down in flames behind German lines. Félipe offers to marry Patricia, but she declines, partly because her younger sister Amanda has a crush on Félipe. Grieving over the loss of their son, the Mazels offer to take some responsibility for their newborn grandson, but Pascal obstinately rejects their offer.

It is later revealed that Jacques managed to survive the plane crash by parachuting into neutral Switzerland, and learns that he has a son. His overjoyed parents call on Pascal to ask if he will forgive them and allow a marriage. He agrees if the couple agree. As their love is as strong as when they first met, the film ends happily.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:21