Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19036 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-01-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Special Features
Anamorphic Wide Screen
French
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 French
Dolby Digital 2.0
Retour Aux Sources A Documentary About The Background To The Film
Theatrical Trailer
Production Notes
Filmographies
English

Synopsis
The deeply expressive, down-to-earth Mathilde Seigner stars in this beautiful, scenic film as Sandrine, a 30-year-old woman who has decided to give up her career as a computer engineer in Paris to be an agriculturist. She returns to school, which is half textbook work and half hands-on farming experience (viewers may want to cover their eyes for Sandrine's lesson in slaughtering a hog). Soon after, she buys a farm in the Rhone-Alps region of France, a rugged mountainous area where the springtime views and clear air are the payoff for the intense isolated winters. There's only one hitch in Sandrine's plan: the cold and curmudgeonly former owner, Adrien (Michel Serrault), will live on the property for an additional 18 months before leaving the farm to retire. As Sandrine learns to run her new farm, coming up with business innovations of which Adrien could never have dreamed, he looks on in silent admiration but keeps his door shut to her. Finally, the two learn to communicate, teaching each other some valuable lessons. This understated film, which makes the French Alps look like paradise, shows two very lonely sides of life: Sandrine's as a young single woman who has not yet found a companion, and Adrien's as a man in his last years of life whose wife has already passed on.
This film was included in the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2002 festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Charming, but not sentimental
This is definetly a film which is more than the sum of its parts. The story is of a successful Parisian girl giving up her job in IT to run a farm. The previous grumpy, cold and unwelcoming owner is retering and selling, but has to stay on another 18 months before his nephew can look after him. This could have descended into cloying sentimentality, as one of the previous reviewers has stated, but it is a credit to the director that though the farm and the scenery are beautiful and idyllic, time is taken to show that the work can be hard.

Both characters are very well drawn, and very understated. At the start of the film, the farmer is a hoot to watch. He writes off the girl as a flake who won't last a week, but again and again the girl shows she has the intelligence, imagination and graft to overcome the difficulties that face her. This of course, just makes him grumpier. The girl tries on a number of occasions to reach out to him, but the farmer either doesn't notice or tries to ignore her. Over time he softens and enjoys her company, but his grumpy demeanour is always close to the surface.

The girl is looking for some meaning in her life, which cannot be found in her daily commute to work in Paris. She is smart, headstrong and determined, but also a little uncertain of what she really wants. Particularly her nice ex-boyfriend who turns up at her farm, and wants her to come back with him to Paris tests this. She gives distinctly mixed signals - happy to see him, but not wanting to show it too much, sleeping with him, but then pointing out firmly that she is sticking to the farm, and so can't be with him. As with the farmer, it is a very convincing performance.

Tensions eventually rise to the surface in the film, but it is a credit to the director and scriptwriter that they do not feel contrived. An excellent film, well worth a look in,

Charming Film with Right Mix of Reality
French films always intrigue me for many reasons but mostly because they are so ... very French! They do not shy away from expressing, exploring deeply felt emotions caused by subterranean undercurrents of unresolved conflicts. These are associated with past events or experiences that shade the main theme or plot providing with a wholly new perspective where there is a revelation, an "ah ha" moment by the end of the film. Also, the characters typically have vibrant and dynamic personalities. As in this film, the viewer is captivated by the people and situations. One becomes a friend and participant, a confidante personally connected with the plots and intrigues. This film is a pleasure to view both from an aesthetic and artistic perspective, first there is the spectacular scenery of the the Rhone Mountains (Vercors) and valleys, the French Alps that unfold before one's eyes but also there is a satisfying story which gradually grows to reveal what is truly present in the human heart.

The viewer is introduced to Sandrine Dumez, a computer instructor who is tired of the pressures of the business world. She needs space and air. She wants to return to a more natural way of life and has enrolled in a school of agriculture and animal husbandry with plans to own and operate a farm. There is a very realistic discussion between mother and daughter which transforms into a conflict when Sandrine drops this 'bomb' on her mother. Another great scene is where the agricultural professor states, if you think you can play the guitar and run a farm, you had better enroll in another school. He makes it clear, farming is hard work and no place for dreamers ...

The head of the agricultural school takes Sandrine to a farm in the Rhone, where an elderly farmer is selling his property, animals and buildings but due to his irascible nature, has had difficulty with students from the school in the past. Michel Serreault plays Adrienn Rochas, the elderly eccentric farmer, whose wife had died 10 years before. He had experienced many long harsh winters in the region and overcome many disasters and personal tragedies all of which are associated with the land and the region. They come to a decision and agree on a selling price, Adrienn will continue to live in the house for another year and half and will retain the orchards as his own. Sandrine proves she is knowledgable by asking the right questions, such as how many gallons of goat milk or yield is there for 70 goats and what is the income from an operations standpoint. Adrienn had dismissed a previous potential buyer when he referred to himself as an "Operations Manager". He derisively commented, 'everyone wants to be a manager, no one wants to work anymore.'

Adrienn has an elderly farmer friend, Jean Farjon who often visits, along with is dog. There are many amusing scenes in which these two old pals discuss Sandrine both her physical attractiveness, along with her farming skills. They debate the liklihood of her succeeding at this huge endeavor, a female alone in the Rhone Mountains, running a farm. To everyone's surprise: Sandrine renovates one of the farm buildings, making it into a hotel which she calls "Balconies of the Sky". She sells her goat cheese on the internet and provides tours to groups of young children who arrive via school bus ...

Unexpectedly, Adrienn is hospitalized in nearby Grenoble with heart disease. To his disappointment, Sandrine does not visit him in the hospital. Adrienn's initial misgivings about Sandrine and her abilities are giving way to a reluctant admiration for her talents and success. When her boyfriend from Pais visits and stays overnight, Adrienn becomes jealous. There are some terrific intrigues and plots which Adrienn hatches to force Sandrine to seek his help and depend on him. Their relationship takes a new turn as they share personal information which strengthens their bonds of friendship. Something occurs which nearly severs these newly forged links of closeness ... Severine takes a break from farming and returns to Paris. There she rethinks her decision to run the farm alone ... When she returns to the farm in the Vercors Mountains, her love of the land and her respect and friendship with Adrienn is renewed but on a deeper more complex, tested level. An unexpected but very real life event which touches both of them personally, makes them see their differences in a new light. It helps them reconnect and strengthens their bonds of friendship and respect taking it to a more heart-felt level. Erika Borsos (pepper flower)

Strange girl
A rather odd and unnattractive girl hankers after the country life. It is unclear what she is running away from or what will make her happy. Her survival on a windswept mountain farm over one winter beggars belief. One random sex scene adds little to the plot. French farming folk are similar to the English in their dislike of strangers and she is made unwelcome. Why she comes back again, where the money comes from for the farm renovation and why the film was made at all is a mystery.