The Sower 2017

      The film is based on a short story by 84-year-old Violette Ailhaud and it was written in 1919.  It is based on a time period from Violette’s life.  Instructions were left by Violette that the novel was not to be made public until 1952.  This was one hundred years after the events related in the story.  In a quiet village in the Lower Alps, all the men are taken away by the repression that followed the republican uprising of December 1851.  France’s autocratic President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte has given this order.  For the next two years only the women and children are left in their village.  It’s difficult work to harvest the crops for the group of women alone.  The women make a pact that if a man comes to the village, he will become their shared husband.  The childless woman would like to have children and the village needs to continue to flourish.

     I didn’t know while watching that this was based on a true story?  It seems unbelievable that it is??  I can see why the author wanted a long period of time before publication.  She probably did not want to be questioned about the story?  I thought this was good, interesting and very different.  It also reminded me of the film The Guardians, another French film about women being left behind on a farm in the war.  The setting of The Guardians is during WWI in 1915.  The scenery is very beautiful and the work is backbreaking.  There are also sheep, chickens and a horse to take care of.  The women are constantly worried about the fate of the men, husbands and fathers.  They have no idea how long they will be gone or if they will come back?  4* (I really liked this movie) 

       

98 min, Drama directed by Marine Francen with Pauline Burlet, Geraldine Pailhas, Alban Lenoir, Iliana Zabeth, Francoise Lebrun, Raphaelle Agogue, Barbara Probst, Anamaria Vartolomei, Margot Abascal, Mama Prassinos, Sarah Fourage, Theo Costa –Marini. 

Note:  Imdb 6.4 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 100% critic, Metacritic 76 out of 100 with 4 critics, Letterboxd 3.2* out of 5*. 

Special Note:  Filmed in La Garde-Guerin, Prevencheres, Lozere, France.  Violette Ailhaud also wrote L’homme Semence, Goodreads gives this book 3.79* out of 5* with 283 ratings and 45 reviews.