Les années lumière

This film, released at the time under the title Light Years Away, is an intriguing variation on the master-apprentice theme. A restless young man with no ambitions is taken in by a mysterious old man who undertakes to teach him.

As in all apprenticeships, the young man must overcome a number of tests in order to be admitted to the inner sanctum of the Master's wisdom.

At this point the prospective viewer might imagine the story is set in a fairytale world full of magic and mystery, but instead he will find himself facing the bleak Irish countryside that serves as a great counterpoint to the mystery in the plot.

Do not be put off by the relative obscurity of this film, it is a true work of art.

This movie is incredible. I'd like to have it on DVD, but still it might take me some decades to watch it again. I've seen it four times in the 80s and 90s when it crept under my skin and stayed there. I remember every scene, yet I wonder what is memory and what was truly shown. Is it really there - or just memory-DVD? Such a simple story, a wayward son meets with a rural guru and gets carried away. I'd like to think that my early access to Gurdieff's writings made this film more accessible and comprehensible to me but even without the guru's ideas I'd get carried away. Awesome work. Two decades after seeing the movie I catch myself thinking about the pig and the birds. Were they properly taken care of? Makes me think why I like Predator and South Park. Why did I originally give it 9 pts? Must reconsider and give it full marks.

First of all, this film is NOT in French. The director is Swiss, French speaking, but Lightyears Away was filmed in Ireland, with Trevor Howard and Mick Ford speaking English, along with the rest of the small cast. This film is essentially about a Zen master-pupil relationship. Howard is at his cranky best. The cinematography is outstanding, somehow capturing the haunting beauty of the Connemara Peninsula in County Galway, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland.

Does anybody know where I can track down a copy of it? DVD would be great.

If you ever have the opportunity to watch this movie, do not miss it! I have seen it four times, between 1980 and 1986, and I wish I could see it again, but it is not available to rent. Jonas'creator Alain Tanner leads us in this movie through Daniel Odier's wonderful metaphorical story of a simple young man, who decides to say yes and go to encounter his redemption. An opportunity to see how the relationship between two completely different men develop in beautiful and tender scenes and without noticing it to reflect about what to be human is all about...

If you EVER get the chance to see this, take it and let yourself be surprised. Of al the movies that handle this subject is this the one that sets the standard. Never have I seen a movie which is so well filmed, acted and produced on this subject as this one. If only someone would take it on himself to have this produced on VHS. The world is at a loss without this.