Tockinit not horrible nor great

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

jotix100 Sandrine, a Parisian young woman who works in computers, has had it! She announces to her mother that after taken the course in agriculture she is going to buy a farm and leave Paris. The training she must undergo is not for the feint hearted, or people with weak stomachs. The graduates must know all there is to know in order to run a successful business under hard conditions.The farm Sandrine sets her eyes on is owned by Adrien, a lonely man of a certain age who has had it. He plans to move with his relatives in Grenoble. The farm he owned and worked all his life is in the Rhone-Alpes region of France. Situated on a picturesque spot in that area, Sandrine buys it and begins to transform the place. Adrien's only condition is that he wants to stay in his own house for the next eighteen months. Sandrine, who wants to get the farm, agrees.It becomes clear from the start Adrien doesn't think much of Sandrine's methods. Being computer savvy, she begins to sell her goat cheeses in the Internet. She also takes in guests in the modern barn she transformed. Sandrine also doesn't quite like the old man because she perceives how much he doesn't approve of her changes to his farm. Adrien, who begins to warm up to the girl, makes the first move to annoy Sandrine by doing something to the electricity. That sends her to ask his help in letting her stay with him as it has snowed heavily and her place is freezing.Adrien begins to relax around the young woman as he lets her know about himself and the life he and his wife had together in the farm. Little by little, both come together and form a bond that will not be broken because both learn to care for the other one.Christian Carion directed this tale about two lonely souls that are much alike, but live in separate worlds. The film is sympathetic to the young woman who decides to pack her glamorous job and make a living on her own in another field. The great asset the director had was the casting of Mathilde Seigner and veteran actor Michel Serrault, who must have suffered an accident, judging by the way his face looks. Both actors give naturalistic performances that warm the viewer's heart as they discover how alike they both are. Jean-Paul Roussillon and Frederic Pierrot appear in supporting roles.Mr. Carion made a life affirming movie that will delight audiences that discover it.

writers_reign It's formulaic, of course, but the trick with formulas is to act as if they're NOT formulaic and play it as if it were the most original story that ever came down the Pike. And that's what we get here, a charming, dazzling and ultimately Moving film that explores as if for the first time age-old concerns. Serrault has been here before in Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud so this is a good time to deal with the six degrees of separation aspect. In 'Nelly' Serrault was the older man and Manu Beart the younger woman; in Manon des Source Manu Beart tended goats and here Mathilde Seigneur does the same thing. So much for trivia. They really put more than the usual five minutes thought into this one because the credits come up over breathtaking aeriel shots of the Vercours and you can see why so many English people are inspired to buy second homes in France or even move there entirely. This is reinforced when in the first sequence we cut to Sandrine (Seigneur) caught up in a traffic jam in Paris and looking thoughtfully at a travel poster of Vercours on a bus in front of her. This is economical storytelling and in the very next scene she is telling her mother of her decision to move to the Vercours - in the Rhone Alps - and become a goat-farmer. The mother can't understand, natch, why a girl born and bred in Paris and a successful computer instructor would want to give it all up to become a sort of recluse about town. So we get the argument out of the way in the first reel. Sandrine is a gifted student, one of the best in Agricultural school and soon she is ready to invest 450,000 Francs in a remote goat farm. The farm belongs to old Adrien (Michel Serrault) and he comes with it, at least til he can move into his new flat in Grenoble some 18 months away. We are now ready for the classic battle of Old versus New, Young versus Old, initial antagonism giving way to mutual affection. Like I said, we've seen it all before. But what we HAVEN'T seen before is two Class Acts like Serrault and Seigneur and what they serve up is pure DELIGHT. We are spared nothing, this isn't a Travelogue because after an idyllic Summer comes the Winter of Discontent, so bad that Seigneur seriously considers throwing in the towel. Essentially a two-hander that stands or falls by the the quality of the two pricipals it is also fleshed out with really strong support in the shape of Adrien's neighbor and contemporary, Sandrine's colleague from Paris and sometime lover, and her mother. This is the kind of movie that Hollywood has completely forgotten how to make and which the accountants who run the place wouldn't sanction anyway. Thank God the French and other European countries can still turn them out like this. 10/10

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. Wonderful, subtle French film that displays the nuances of quiet desperation of the young and fear of loneliness and death of the elderly. Make no mistake, the venerable Michel Serrault MAKES this movie! He is downright remarkable as Adrien, the long time farmer, who sells is farm to the young city girl played well by Mathilde Seigner. Many excellent scenes including awkward moments for all. The ridiculous comments about cruelty to animals during the filming is not worthy of mention. This is a fact of life on a farm and obviously the cow scenes were real life - not created for the film. The pig scene, may be painful to watch, but effectively makes the point of life and death on a farm - just like the goat birth scene. As far as the rabbit, give me a break, we see a live bunny and then one being prepared for dinner. This can happen in any restaurant on a daily basis. Yes the hang glider was a bit too much, too often, but I loved the Volvo, the Weimeramer and the "dumb" goat. Very personal film with much insight into human nature at all ages.

jul_g Despite the fact that this was mostly a lovely film, visually, in the acting, and script, there are some serious flaws. There is a horrible scene in which a pig is butchered by by having its brains blown out with a gun, and we must witness the poor animal's suffering from up close. In addition, there is a dream sequence showing cattle being stunned on their way to slaughter, and in addition to all this, there is a close-up of a butchered rabbit which we have seen five seconds earlier in its cute furry bunny form.This puts a terrible damper on an otherwise sensitive and beautiful film. Why do animals have to die for this?