La Vie moderne
Raymond Depardon
© Palmeraie et desert
“In the beginning, there were roads. At the end of the roads, there are farms. I go back to these farms, happy to see these people again because, over time, I have gained their trust: at the Villaret, at the Pont-de-Montvert, in the Cévennes.” (Raymond Depardon)
Image : Raymond Depardon
Sound : Claudine Nougaret
Editing : Simon Jacquet
Sound : Claudine Nougaret
Editing : Simon Jacquet
Production : Palmeraie et désert, France 2 Cinéma, Arte France
Distribution: Palmeraie et désert
Distribution: Palmeraie et désert
With La Vie modern, Depardon made a film entirely held together with the bonds of friendship that bind him to the farmers he has been following for ten years now, and which we can imagine could have been his relatives if he had not gone to Paris to become a photographer. More than ever, he intervenes by questioning his subjects in still, quiet settings that magnify them without falling into any strong aestheticism. Unlike the two previous chapters, Depardon used a camera made by engineer Jean-Pierre Beauviala, which was light but still enabled the scope format. It meant that he could keep several people in the frame at once and capture the particular light of the Cévennes. An elegiac feeling of disappearance dominates this conclusion, which pays tribute to these great elders who will probably not find anyone to succeed them.