«Anything is possible» released today: let's talk about it (or not)

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

Idealism, but work. The documentary Anything is possible, whose English title is even kitschier (The biggest little farm), tells the story of an American couple who decide to leave everything behind and set up their own farm in harmony with nature. After years of hard work, they succeed. But can we talk about it without resorting to the conventional?

A documentary, and an American one at that, about an object that bores me more than anything else, namely animals. And the story of a dream come true: bof, we've seen so many. But film critics shouldn't be ambassadors for personal loves and dislikes. The critic must remain a critic, if possible detached from himself. But how can they be if they adhere to the journalism gonzo, which, by definition, implies the involvement of the author and his or her personality? A vast impasse, which is ours at Regard Libre. And all the more beautiful for being so vast. You can do a lot with a dead end. The words of a man who had one for an address throughout his childhood.

However, we may be able to help ourselves by distinguishing between with François Busnel the literary critic from the literary journalist - let's assume that the same applies to discourse on cinema. Whereas critics claim to know things about a work, and to know things that enable them to judge it, journalists assume they don't know, and engage in the modest vocation of questioner. Asking the artist directly, about his work, what art is. This is a fine definition of our passionate and rarely remunerated activity, which some pessimists believe has been overtaken by the times, and which, on the contrary, I find more promising than ever, in the age of globally accessible debate.

And I would add to the definition of the famous presenter of The Big Bookshop that the cultural journalist is not only a curious questioner, but also a conversationalist. A lover of discussion, in which he is actually a participant and not simply an initiator and observer. The art of asking the right questions, which he shares with the philosopher, is not enough for him. Like the philosopher, he must humbly move towards the beginnings of answers. After several years' experience, François Busnel asserts «to have an idea of what literature is, or rather what it isn't.» The journalist who is not content to be a stationmaster, according to Jacques Pilet's beautiful formula, invests in words, and therefore in the world.

Doesn't the present article, which is scathing in its mediocrity, prove that the journalist's skill lies in his ability to make connections between things, which can enable him - and this time he joins the politician - not to talk about his subject at all? But that would be a shame, rest assured, because the documentary Anything is possible (The biggest little farm) has some excellent elements. First, the viewer's encounter with Emma the sow. Then there's the sight of ducks devouring snails - who knew they had a taste for them? Then there's the laudable family story, set in California's worst drought in 1,200 years. Finally, the film's omnipresent idea that coexistence, balance and population regulation are the key to life. Let's take a leaf out of their book, to use an agrarian image.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Impuls Pictures