The condition of French farmers is a recurring theme in French cinema. But in general it is the damaged family businesses that modern life has left aside that are mentioned. In his trilogy “Peasant Profiles”, Raymond Depardon followed octogenarian farmers and shepherds who work in regions undermined by rural exodus. Others were interested in the damage caused by intensive agriculture and the agrochemical industry, which pushed family farms into bankruptcy.

French farmers number less than half a million people today, compared to 2 and a half million in 1955. But this world in decline still occupies an important place in the national imagination, in a country prey to nostalgia for their rural past and the guilt over the difficulties experienced by so many of them. A movement of agricultural crisis threatens, at the end of January, to lead to a blockade of Paris.

Read alsoAgriculture: the land as a legacy

“La Ferme des Bertrand”, which is released on January 31, 2024 in French cinemas, tells another story: that of the successful transition of a mountain dairy farm towards modernity, over three generations.

The objective is not to minimize or ignore the fight of others, explains director Gilles Perret, who co-wrote the documentary with his campaign Marion Richoux. But to highlight an agriculture that is both viable and attractive, deeply respectful of the environment.

Economic success, human failure

At the beginning of the film, viewers are introduced to a trio of shirtless brothers, breaking rocks to build the foundations of the milking parlor. Their thin, muscular bodies bear witness to an austere life, marked by work and frugality. The black and white images come from a 1972 documentary filmed for French television in the Alpine hamlet where Gilles Perret grew up, not far from the Bertrand brothers' farm.

Twenty-five years later, Gilles Perret picks up a camera to film the same trio. He is preparing to pass on the farm to a nephew and his wife, a third generation of Bertrand now in charge. The director then merges the three eras in a fascinating chronicle of half a century of resilience and adaptations to the changes in the rural world.

The Bertrand brothers in a 1972 documentary by Marcel Trillat. © ORTF

When they handed over the reins in 1997, the three brothers left behind a successful business, but at the cost of great human sacrifice. They remained single, and put aside their personal aspirations out of devotion to their land and their livestock throughout a life of renunciation.

As André, the mustachioed man, central character of the film, says, their story is one of “economic success and human failure”.

It took three generations for the Bertrands to finally find a balance between work and family life. Thanks in particular to the help of an impressive range of machines which have lightened their work. “Young people hardly do manual work these days,” mutters André, leaning on his cane, and continuing to work in the last sequences of the film. “But they know the machines well.”

A protected bubble

André and his brothers provide many of the film's most endearing scenes, whether they're swinging a sickle, massaging a chicken, or calling each of their hundred cows by name.

But Gilles Perret's film does not wallow in nostalgia for a bygone era. It opens with a shot of a brand new milking machine, which Hélène, from the second generation of the Bertrand family, jokingly presents as her "replacement", the one who will make her son's work less tiring and less repetitive.

Hélène (left), her son Marc (right) and her son-in-law Alex. © Laurent Cousin

It’s about “provoking” the viewer, explains Gilles Perret, by showing agriculture in tune with society and the technological advances that are shaping our world.

“In many other sectors, mechanization has led to the destruction of jobs and the deterioration of working conditions,” he says. But "in this specific case, robots can be of great help in carrying out the most exhausting tasks in this job which requires human presence 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

The film does not hide the physical consequences for the Bertrands. André's two brothers died just weeks after retiring. Their nephew died at age 50, leaving Hélène behind with three children and a farm to manage.

If the farm continues, it is largely because it is located in Haute-Savoie, a land of cheese. The Reblochon produced by the family benefits from the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

The label means that their milk is sold twice as expensive as that from the plains or industrial farms. They effectively operate in a bubble, protected from market forces that leave countless other farmers subject to price volatility.

Meaningful work

In the 25 years that have passed since he first filmed the farm, Gilles Perret has produced a large number of works on social themes, sometimes collaborating with politician and journalist François Ruffin to denounce the effects of unbridled capitalism. His films focus on the human impact of economic and societal transformations, highlighting spaces of resistance.

Also read: Gilles Perret, director closer to people

The director explains that growing up alongside the Bertrand family helped shape his view of the world and his interests.

“In my films, I tried to question our relationship to work, the meaning of what we do, the way in which we can improve our working conditions, and what can be done to preserve our environment,” explains -he. “These are things that are at the heart of their lives.”

Patrick, André's brother, in 1997. © Gilles Perret

To benefit from the Reblochon label, the farm is subject to strict specifications which exclude the use of unnatural foods to feed the herd and imposes a minimum duration of 150 days of grazing.

“It doesn’t quite correspond to organic farming but it comes very close,” assures Gilles Perret. The director discusses the Bertrands' role in preserving the environment around the hamlet in which he still lives – both a gift of nature and the result of painstaking effort.

“The money we earn is what we live on,” says one of the brothers in the film, as he enjoys the view while resting on his scythe after a day's work. “But the real satisfaction for us is keeping nature clean and healthy.”

This article has been adapted from the original in English which can be found here. 

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