The Plight of the Peasants, Brought to the Screen by Edouard Bergeon

Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier

It is a film that is as harsh—in its subject matter and what it shows on screen—as it is artistically accomplished, and therefore beautiful. In the name of the earth Edouard Bergeon’s film tells the story of a farmer (Guillaume Canet) who takes over his father’s farm and slowly slides from happiness into horror, despite having a loving wife and children. A powerful film, sadly based on the reality of the agricultural world and how it has changed over the past forty years.

France, 1979. Pierre (Guillaume Canet) returns from Wyoming, where he had to tend to thousands of animals. The family farm he finds upon his return is certainly on a smaller scale, but that hasn’t stopped it from expanding considerably during his absence. His father, Jacques Jarjeau (Rufus), who inherited the farm upon the death of his own father when he was only thirteen, has certainly developed it—though not without violating existing regulations. Now it’s Pierre’s turn to take over the family farm. «Well, the important thing is that it stays in the family.», Barjaque, that old-fashioned farmer, said to his son as he was transferring ownership of the farm before the notary and Pierre’s fiancée, the beautiful foreigner Claire (Veerle Baetens).

Twenty-three years later, the increasingly difficult reality of traditional farming has set in, and debts are mounting. Yet Pierre is investing heavily in new infrastructure with the specific goal of adapting to the times and making the farm profitable. Hope keeps us going. But when there’s no hope left, things are truly bleak. Raising a large flock of poultry quickly turns into a disaster when the brand-new facility—which cost a fortune—begins to malfunction. This marks the beginning of a descent into hell for Pierre—literally, since the facility in question will be consumed by flames.

The undeniable excellence of the actors—including Pierre’s son, Thomas (Anthony Bajon)—combines with the film’s other great strength, which is precisely the theme of the father-son relationship. «Pierre» is the father; the father is a stone, a hard rock, a tough rock. Pierre, a family man who is becoming increasingly idle despite the love of his family, wants above all not to inherit his father’s harshness and severity, even though he inherits his farm. These traits are not merely the result of a bygone, difficult era; they also stem from genuine malice—a kind of malicious pleasure in criticizing others’ ways and never expressing unconditional love for his wife or children.

There is no doubt that this eternally difficult father-son relationship—one that so many of us are all too familiar with and that therefore borders on a universal impasse—plays a major role in Pierre’s tragic fate and that of the film. In the name of the earth It thus stands out as an important work on the all-too-timely theme of the plight of the agricultural world, but it goes even further by weaving in an element of family drama set against a backdrop of deep, unresolved frustrations passed down from father to son. Watching the film, there’s no mistaking it: you can tell the director is drawing from his own life experiences. And the way he has rendered them as fiction, with such talent, is nothing short of remarkable.

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