«Les Grandes Traversées», from cancer to the big crossing

Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci

«Cancer is... an unbearable word.»

Françoise Maye is living through her terminal phase. Her son, David, accompanies her through the journey, camera on shoulder, in an unpretentious documentary. While one existence is in its twilight, another is born. David's sister gives birth to a granddaughter, who fills her grandmother's last months with happiness. Françoise's husband, meanwhile, is busy restructuring the kitchen.

The sixty-six-minute film might seem like an amateur video, released as a testimonial. In fact, even if the form remains very sober, the director, now orphaned by his mother, recounts not only the union of an entire family in the face of illness, but also the balance sheet of a simple life that fades away, tasting ineffaceable memories through photographs.

Freeze-framed shots of the vines in different seasons poetically show the passage of time, the degeneration it brings, and finally the harvest that consecrates the wine on the family table. In addition, the relationships between the generations show how life goes on. One of the most beautiful scenes features the grandmother and her granddaughter playing on the terrace.

«You've always shown yourself to be a professional on long crossings, but deep down, we don't know anything about the passage.»

Write to the author : loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © cinergy.ch