Films

«Snow Panther» on film offers a face for contemplation

5 reading minutes

written by Jonas Follonier · January 16, 2022 · 0 comment

«Snow Panther» in film offers a face to contemplation

After the novelization from his Tibetan adventures to his quest for the snow leopard, Sylvain Tesson appears on screen in a film also entitled The snow leopard. Directed by Marie Amiguet and wildlife photographer Vincent Munier, a friend with whom Tesson went on the hunt for the panther, this documentary is a success in every respect. In addition to its breathtaking images, this feature-length French film could well bring back the contemplative attitude of all those who have forgotten it - almost all of humanity.

Backpacks, good jackets, some food, video equipment and a lot of mental strength. These are the main items of luggage for the duo of friends heading for the Tibetan highlands. The aim of this new journey, embarked upon by one of France's most popular writers of the moment, Sylvain Tesson, and wildlife photographer Vincent Munier? «To reach a beast whose arrival nothing can guarantee. Namely, the snow leopard, as rare as it is discreet. »Despise pain, ignore time and never despair of getting what you want«: a fine program. But not for everyone. Sylvain Tesson has made surpassing oneself his business, and the literary sublimation of this business his vocation.

Fighting to keep the world

The snow leopard is a documentary using the classic voice-over technique. And we hear excerpts from the novel of the same name, read by the author himself. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival 2021, the 90-minute film shows the two men at work in their enthusiastic approach, at times making their way through the mountains, watching for a presence, and at other times feeding on occasional victuals in a cave. The images to which the viewer is given access are all breathtaking. One wild landscape follows another, silhouettes on the horizon, dawns and dusk. Wild yaks, wolves, foxes and chirus are captured by Munier and his cameras. We see them as if in real life, then behind a filter. We are moved. We search. We wait.

We wait for the panther. And one of the film's main advantages lies precisely in its ability to transform the audience's impatience into a form of patience. This is precisely what the dented-faced writer convinces us of, and the spectacle offered to him is also offered to us: «I had learned that patience was a supreme virtue, the most elegant and the most forgotten. It helped to love the world.» Even if the two protagonists' eulogy of a nature untouched by civilization is a form of idealization, we are obliged to bow to the persuasive force of this moral and aesthetic material, which is welcomed as a lesson in humility. And a call to preserve the world - and the ability to marvel at it.

The music that everyone missed

So, of course, the appearance - or otherwise - of Lady Panther is the key to the film. But then, at the conclusion of the film, another, somewhat unnoticed emergence takes place. The song We are not alone, performed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. A melancholy blues/rock with choirs and strings that may surprise, but doesn't detract. The lyrics, beautifully coherent with the rest of the work, are written by Sylvain Tesson, echoing the very personal lessons he drew from this initiatory journey. The resulting atmosphere is that of Leonard Cohen's chanson-psaumes, where we search for meaning in this mystery called life: