– The first feature by young French directors Mathias Joulaud and Lucien Roux is born of a magical encounter with Didier, a 50-year-old, non-hearing man who works on a cattle farm in Auvergne
Already known to the Visions du Réel Festival, where they presented their first short film, Ramboy, in 2022, young French directors Mathias Jouland and Lucien Roux are returning to Nyon with their first feature-length movie, La voix du troupeau, which is screening in the Burning Lights Competition.
With rare delicacy and lyricism, the film tells the story of an illiterate man called Didier who was born non-hearing and who finds a reason to live thanks to the contact he enjoys with animals, namely his dogs but especially the cows he cares for on the Maury family’s cattle farm. Without speaking on his behalf, the directors observe Didier as he tries to find a language, between gestures and facial expressions, capable of conveying the pain caused by the loss of his brother and only real companion in life, Claude.
Although the protagonist in La voix du troupeau is unable to express himself verbally, his infectious need to communicate pervades the entire film. Instead of words, the images, movements, smells and tastes of a simple life full of emotion are what define and demarcate his world. And in order to convey the vortex of sensations inhabiting Didier, the directors were obliged to attempt to perceive the world as he does. The result is a film full of poetry and sensitivity, seamlessly combining dream and reality through creative sequences which see Didier’s daily life merging with animated, slow-motion or intentionally blurry images.
The protagonist’s story isn’t told in a linear fashion, by an off-camera voice or through testimonials from those who know and spend time with him. Instead, the filmmakers open the floor to Didier directly, despite his lack of words. Sitting on a seat opposite the camera, he shows us fragments of his past – from the difficulties he experienced at school to attempts to make him wear a hearing aid and, ultimately, the devastating loss of his brother, Claude. All of this is communicated to us by Didier himself, through his own particular language, composed of gestures which transform into dance, sounds which turn into musical notes and looks which are bursting with emotion. As they attempt to decipher an unknown language, viewers are urged to identify with Didier, to feel what it means not to be able to communicate with the outside world directly.
But it’s the profound relationship between Didier and his animals – in particular the cows on the Maury family farm – that’s especially moving here. The way he caresses the newborn calves’ faces or massages their mothers’ backs helps us to understand that love needs no words. Thanks, moreover, to the Maury family’s patience and love, especially on the part of the younger son, the protagonist is able to overcome an even more arduous challenge: forging lasting bonds with other human beings besides Claude. Between despair and resilience, courage and gentleness, Didier and the members of his “adoptive” family fight to keep a farming world which has all but disappeared, alive. They become their own herd who don’t need words to understand one another.
La voix du troupeau is a tribute to the simple things, an ode to profound emotions and a veritable life lesson.
The feature was produced by Akka Films (Switzerland) and Les films du tambour de soie (France) together with RTS – Radio Télévision Suisse (Switzerland).
(Translated from Italian)
