Cousin Jules

This documentary, shot in beautiful Cinemascope in the late 60’s and early 70’s, details the rural Burgundy life of 80 something blacksmith Jules and his wife Felice, relatives of the film’s director Dominique Benicheti. It received its first American commercial release in a restored version shown at Film Forum in 2013 and is now streaming on Mubi (with subscription). What a beauty! The film is absolutely gorgeous and if your idea of fun is watching Jules stoke up his forge and bang out shutter hinges the same way he’s been doing it since 1905, you’re in for a real treat. I could’ve watched many more hours of Jules shaving, Felice peeling potatoes and the two of them quietly making coffee. And the wooden shoes! This film is the antidote to the hysteria of so much of contemporary culture. It coaxes the viewer to slow down and just watch and observe. Its quiet rhythm pulls the viewer in and transports them to a time when people lived closer to nature and work had dignity. An interesting companion piece to Cousin Jules is Judith Lit’s After Winter, Spring, (streaming on Amazon Prime) which documents the farming community of the filmmaker’s Dordogne neighbours. As with Cousin Jules, we get long takes of peasants practising their dying arts. Both films are elegies for a way of life slipping away as they’re being made. By the time we’re watching them, its pretty much over.