Of Whales, the Moon, and Men

A new technology had just been invented where cameraman and soundman weren't wired together anymore. The new camera was light and held on shoulder. Brault is still viewed by some as the best cameraman and photo director in history. The subject was a small island community Perrault's wife is from. At first sight, this is just another run of the mill documentary. Look twice and a whole other story is put forward by editor and cameraman. Notice shot in daisy field. This ain't a documentary. Film was re-issued in video early 1999. Part of a three film series with same cast and crew. Decades ahead of its time.

I first saw this seminal documentary of direct cinema in Paris, while attending a workshop of cinéma direct with Jean Rouch and his disciples. It was in French with no subtitles, so I understood very little, but perceived its significance and inner beauty. Then I saw it several times again while adding Spanish subtitles to it, and I reafirm my opinion that this is an immensely beautiful film. The agents of political correctness may object to whale hunting, but this is a document of a time, of a culture, of a village, of one of its labor practices and of a tradition on the verge of extinction Truly a great ethnographic motion picture.

This is no ordinary documentary. It's history and ethnology. Brault & Perrault shot that at a moment when a traditional way of life was still part of the every day of the fishermen of a small island of the St-Laurent river, in Québec. The way the old people talk are very XIXe Century. Old people takes their traditions to the youngs. Little children watch and learn, like in a society where oral transmission was the only way to learn. It's also made when National Film Board of Canada (ONF) was very very creative, espacially the French Canadians who were working there. This is a very unique piece of work.

This film is a testimony of an era that is almost vanished, with all its beautiful and raw truth. Even among the elders of Québec, very few today could actually fully understand typical expressions and language of Île aux Coudres inhabitants. But anyone paying attention to the music of time, and to the true nature of life, will be moved by the quest of these villagers, by their consciousness of the tragedy of cultural death. This story is the one of their last battle, their last attempt to revive something that will soon be forgotten, even by their own children. Some believe in it, other seem discouraged. In the end, what is left of their message is the crucial moment when they realize that what they do is part of an effort to leave something "POUR LA SUITE DU MONDE". This film is a masterpiece, a treasure that should be kept forever, to teach the world how to not forget.