Cannes

Modern Life

La Vie Moderne (Documentary -- France)

By LESLIE FELPERIN

A Palmeraie et Desert presentation of a Palmeraie et Desert, France 2 cinema production, with the support of France 2, Canal Plus, CNC, Region Ile de France. (International sales: Films Distribution, Paris.) Produced by Claudine Nougaret.
Directed by Raymond Depardon.
 
With: Marcel Privat, Raymond Privat, Alain Rouviere, Cecile Rouviere, Marcelle Bresse, Paul Argaud, Amandine Valla, Michel Valla, Marcel Challaye, Germaine Challaye, Jean-Francois Pantel, Nathalie Pantel, Jean Roy, Daniel Roy.

(French, Occitan dialogue)

 

Greeted with a standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, but probably destined to confinement, offshore, to the fest circuit and upmarket broadcasting slots, Gallic docu "Modern Life" reps another moving installment in an ongoing series by veteran documaker Raymond Depardon about dairy farmers struggling to eke a living in the French highlands. Most of the same folk who appeared in 2000's "Profils paysans: L'approche" and 2005 "Le Quotidien" are interviewed once more to create Depardon's distinctive cinematic portraits, suffused with empathy and humanism, which captures a hardscrabble way of life on the decline.

Once again, the Privat family of the tiny hamlet of Le Villaret play a central role here. Brothers Marcel and Raymond are still raising sheep and cattle well into in their 80s, although the flocks of both are diminishing as the grazing land turns to scrub and their powers to battle the elements recede. Neither is adjusting well to the arrival of Cecile, their nephew Alain Rouviere's new wife, a strong-willed woman who's come from Calais with her daughter and has apparently given the brothers lip about their lack of cleanliness. (Alain's efforts to find a wife by advertising in newspapers were recounted in "Profils paysans: Le Quotidien.") It seems doubtful that 88-year-old Marcel, on the point of retiring here, will be around for the next instalment.

Other subjects include Marcel and Germaine Challaye, another elderly couple whose herd of cows is down to just two from 10 and then one by the end of the pic. Grandmatronly Germaine smiles and pushes madeleines in offscreen interviewer Depardon's direction while Marcel complains that things aren't the same anymore. Daniel Roy, the only child from a family of six to stay on the farm with his parents, inarticulately but smilingly explains he'd rather do anything other than farm, but he doesn't know what.

Even Amandine Valla, a Lyons-born lass whose passion for goat-rearing had seemed a hope for the future in "Le Quotidien," feels nearly defeated by the struggle to raise children and earn enough to fix her barn roof so her herd won't suffer in the winter.

Although some are happier and better off than others, the message that times are tough for agronomists gets a little repetitive after a while. At least moments of warmth and humor jolly things up occasionally, such as one little boy refusing to be put off his ambition to be just like his daddy when he grows up, or Cecile tottering over the rocks in her high heels on her wedding day.

Depardon's sympathy for his subjects -- trying to get these naturally dour people to open up looks like harder work than cutting a field of grass with a scythe -- shines through consistently. Acting also as lenser, Depardon frames them in their homes and fields with long static takes that have the dignity and formality of classical portraiture. If the 19th-century painter of peasantry Jean-Francois Millet were alive today, he'd love these movies.

To break up the stasis, Depardon adds structuring device of preceding each meeting with his subjects with long shots from a rig mounted on his car's hood, allowing for some stunning, literally travelling shots of the rugged countryside that plays a central role here. Cello music by Gabriel Faure adds poignancy.

Camera (color, widescreen, 16-to-35mm), Depardon; editor, Simon Jacquet; sound (Dolby Digital, SRD), Claudine Nougaret. Reviewed at the Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard), May 18, 2008. Running time: 88 MINS.