Farrebique - les quatres saisons

In the village of Goutrens in the Aveyron region, a family of farmers are getting ready for the winter. They talk about whether they will add an extension to the house next year whilst the ageing father thinks about dividing up Farrebique without destroying the whole. On the basis of this simple pretext Georges Rouquier paints us the portrait of country life over the four seasons of the year.
Because of Rouquier's sense of detail and the true-to-life performance of the amateur players, this documentary offers a sharp insight in the daily existence of a well-to-do farmer's family in the French countryside. The sensitive camera treatment and the film maker's ability to take his time over approaching the subject matter give the film a disarming intimacy and at the same time create a poetic atmosphere. But although he had already become known for his short films on various trades (, from 1942 and , from 1943) Georges Rouquier did not obtain the foreseen succes with this work and was unable to carry out his initial plan of two complementary films: one dealing with the modernization of a farm and the other with the drift from the land. He finally made in 1983 in the same place and with the same family. With , it provides a magnificent reflection on the passing of time.