SEE WITH YOUR HEART

By Jacques Saraben

“Knowledge and reminiscence go hand in hand.” (Plato) “The only thing that matters is the advance of knowledge, requiring excellence in the field of research, wherever and whoever it may come from.” (Yves Coppens)

In her film THE LAST FARMER-CUM-PREHISTORIAN, Sophie Cattoire makes the acquaintance of Gilbert Pémendrant, a seventy-six year old ”joine païsan”, the owner of Bernifal Cave in the Périgord Noir, and his artist ancestors from the Upper Paleolithic who inhabited his land about 20,000 years ago.

Gilbert has the humility, the sense of humour and the intelligence of his forefathers who were forbidden to speak « Oc » a hundred years ago. They have passed on to him their love of hard work and a job well done, in harmony with the rhythm of the cosmos. A dazzling and sensitive film about the way this “gentle” man, the filmmaker and international reporter, Sophie Cattoire, and anthropologists apprehend “L’Art des Ténèbres” (“The Art of Souterrain Darkness”), the title of the world famous film by Ruspoli. We share the wonder of the Magdalenian hunter and artist – contemplating his work. We see Gilbert discovering through his own eyes, each time for the first time, the sheer beauty of the place; it would be hard to define a sort of “presence”, the “feel” of the place.

All this is filmed by an artist who, like Cézanne, prefers the logic of the senses to “the logic of the mind”. The commentary and the dialogues ring true, the lighting is glorious and the folk music in perfect harmony with this masterpiece of sensibility. An “aesthetic” film in the etymological sense of the word, “producing sensations”, arousing the Oriental “Ah!...”. All our senses are awakened, we understand intuitively the hidden meanings. Ambiguity of the image, verisimilitude that fools you, evocative power of figures and forms.

Gilbert, like l’Abbé Breuil, Alain Roussot, André Leroy-Gourhan or Norbert Aujoulat, has understood that his artist ancestors embraced chance, bumps, marks and the colours on the natural rock, even if he might later allow a new interpretation, a new “profile”. The message Gilbert has for us seems to be: “Always expect the unexpected!” But no question of disturbing the dead and violating their resting places while he is there to keep watch. Nothing will be tampered with in this sanctuary.

Sophie Cattoire thrills us with the splendour of the landscape, the splendour of this extraordinary farmer. The pictures tell the story. There is poetry everywhere, there is magic in the sanctuary. It once was inhabited… it is once more: by our film-makers and their “protagonists”.

I like to listen to Norbert Aujoulat when he talks about Mircea Eliade, about the symbolic approach towards myths - taking us back to Sacred Old Time. All through the film, for my delectation, pure sensation and beauty - now regarded with suspicion by the champions of a contemporary or post-modern, rootless form of art where “concept” is THE word.

Thank you, Sophie. You see with your heart.

Jacques Saraben, artist, Senior Lecturer

Read the article written by jean Bonnefon, journalist, founder of France Bleu Périgord.