Une hirondelle a fait le printemps (2001) - film review

Tired of her stressful job as a computer expert in Paris, 30 year old Sandrine decides to make a new life as a farmer.  After a two-year training course, she acquires a remote farm in the Rhones-Alps region of France, where she intends to make goats’ cheese and run a holiday home for visitors.  The farm’s previous owner, Adrien, is less than enthusiastic at her arrival.  Disillusioned with farming, he continues to live in the farmhouse, but offers Sandrine little moral support.  Then, during an inclement winter, their frosty relationship begins to thaw...

Drawing on his own experiences, Christian Carion vividly evokes both the pleasure and hardship of country life in this, his first full-length film.  The style of the film is similar to that of other recent French films (for example, Jean Becker’s Les Enfants du marais) which paint a slightly romanticised view of rural life but which appeals to non-French cinema-goers.   Carion attempts to show the flip-side with some moments of high drama and some poignant reminders of the BSE crisis.  However, the prevailing mood is upbeat, to the extent that both of the narrative and the characterisation fail to convince.  The film is beautifully made, with some strikingly beautiful shots of the Rhone-Alps countryside and some charming comic touches, yet it does rather feel overly simplistic, giving the impression that only part of the story has been told.

The film stars Michel Serrault, a popular character actor whose film career stretches back to the 1950s, and a comparative newcomer, Mathilde Seigner.  Both actors are to be commended for their performances in this film.  Their subtle on-screen rapport (hinting at a most unconventional form of love) is perhaps what makes the film so compelling and emotionally engaging.   By contrast, Mathilde’s relationship with her former boyfriend is somewhat artificial and merely shows up the weakness in the film’s characterisation.

If you don’t look too closely, Une hirondelle a fait le printemps is an attractive and engaging film, although it does little to alter the stereotypical images of life in the country.  True, there are references to mad cow disease, low incomes, animal slaughtering and violent snow storms.   However, the film’s most enduring image remains that of an attractive young woman leading her contended herd of goats along a country path, surrounded by an awesome expanse of lush countryside.   Contrast this with the grim reality painted in Sandrine Veysett’s 1996 film Y aura-t-il de la neige à Noël? which offers a far less idealised view of country life (but which makes a far less appealing film).

© James Travers 2002

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