How sad that such a high-calibre film has so little interest in Canada or the USA, according to IMDb. Perhaps it has been recognised in Quebec (which IS part of North America) on some website I don't know about.
Director Meunier apparently fled the rat-race in Paris and found Najac, which is like a thousand other villages in France. Indeed, once you leave the rush of Paris, the whole of France resembles Najac in some way.
I lived in a town of 199 in the Languedoc, and our Mayor yearned for one more resident so that he could boast 200. As mayor, he could run for President of France! The French countryside has many surprises. I once saw four old men in boiler suits emerge from a restaurant and get into a large, brand-new Mercedes. And there are plenty of discoveries in this lovingly made fly-on-the-wall documentary. It enhances your life and leaves you feeling richer, not as though you've been dragged backwards through a mangle, as with most Hollywood films.
The only proviso is that this film does not include the new residents of France. Except for a back-to-the-land type descended from Lithuanian Jewish intellectuals in Paris, the vast hordes of immigrants of a semi-white skinned type are left out. Naturally, because they have not yet penetrated La France Profonde, where this film is emphatically set.
Very highly recommended in the non-fiction department.
