09/08/2023 - French director Émilie Deleuze follows a 50-year-old in search of his own private Eden and stubborn to the point of jeopardising everything

Lead character Franck (Lambert Wilson) is a seemingly “perfect” man: he has a prestigious job as a research scientist and a brilliant wife (Marina Hands) with whom he enjoys a busy but comfortable life. The only thing that seems to be missing from this idyll is children. Nevertheless, from one day to the next, he decides to risk everything he has by embarking on an adventure which turns out to be bigger than he is: buying five hectares of land in Limosino. Presented out of competition in a world premiere within the Locarno Film Festival, 5 Hectares [+see also:
trailer
film profile] attempts to dissect the torments of a man who feels empty in spite of it all, a man worn thin by an increasingly oppressive social mask.

Entertaining but not superficial, Émilie Deleuze’s latest film - written together with Marie Desplechin, the author behind Le Journal d’Aurore, which formed the basis of Deleuze’s previous film Miss Impossible [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - speaks of masculinity, the arrogance of city folk and the extraordinary capacity farmers have for living a full life despite the countless difficulties inherent to their everyday lives.

Although the film’s protagonist doesn’t make the radical decision to leave it all behind and become a farmer himself (five hectares is the minimum amount of land you need to even hope of being accepted in a rural environment, and the maximum to avoid intense levels of labour), like scores of Parisians (and others) in search of meaning, the call of the land and of a long-dreamed-of but never pursued freedom slowly seem to win out over reality, work obligations and efforts to keep a seriously faltering relationship alive.

Convinced that buying a plot of land will be enough to turn him into a landowner deserving of his neighbours’ respect, Franck soon realises his total ignorance over the unspoken rules governing life in the countryside. Used to getting what he wants (all you need is money!), this “weekend farmer” decides to buy what he thinks will turn him into a respected countryman: a tractor. His urge to buy this vehicle, which ultimately turns out to be a status symbol, sees him delving ever deeper into a mysterious yet fascinating hinterland where words have a different weight and land can only be earned. He’s accompanied on this initiatory journey by another city dweller (played by Laurent Poitrenaux), who also allowed himself to be overcome with passion for the countryside ten years earlier.

Like a modern Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, the two of them join forces in the hope of bringing the Holy Grail home. But getting hold of it is far harder than Franck imagined. Nevertheless, the wait and the difficulties involved in his journey, the need to adapt to a markedly different pace, and the discovery of a reality where time expands and nothing is ever certain, turns out to be a necessary shock therapy for our protagonist, allowing him to explore primal instincts he’d never allowed himself to feel: anger, envy and overwhelming desire.

5 Hectares is a well-calibrated comedy, intelligently offering up moments of humour but also deeper reflection, especially on the survival of the unrelenting and increasingly undervalued farming profession, for example. Special mention should also go to Bobby Gillespie’s music, which envelops the film in a decidedly polished and attractive, vintage veneer.

5 Hectares was produced by Ex Nihilo (which is also in charge of its international sales) and Demons Productions.

(Translated from Italian)