Une hirondelle a fait le printemps

A brave decision for an Internet-teacher in Paris: she leaves everything behind and buys a goat-farm in the south of France, away from all the things she is used to. In a remarkable way she manages to set up a guest-house and an Internet site, on which she sells her goat-cheese. The former owner, who still lives at the farm, starts so like the young woman very much. When they both suffer a fierce winter, it is the beginning of a friendship.

"The Girl From Paris" tiptoes liltingly though a slice of life of a young French city woman who buys a farm and finds herself wrestling with the rigors of farm life and the stoic, laconic, and crusty old previous owner. The odd couple put of with each other at the outset but as time passes they find something of value in one another and a tender, sensitive but mostly unspoken relationship emerges. A light drama about mutual needs in a bucolic milieu which explores a different kind of relationship, "The Girl From Paris" is a lovely little film with minimal dialogue worth a look for anyone into people flicks of the French persuasion. (B)

This is a very nice movie that most English-speaking movie goers will never see. Here in the USA it has the title "Girl From Paris", but the French title translates to "one swallow brought spring." Mathilde Seigner, unknown to me before this movie, plays Sandrine Dumez, a single young lady, approaching 30, and living in Paris. One day while running late because of bad traffic, she decides to follow her dream, to get away from the city and become a farmer. This is her story, and also how her life touched that of an old man who thought he had nothing to live for. She was his 'swallow'. Although it is all in French, the subtitles are easy to read and is not a distraction at all. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.

SPOILERS FOLLOW. Sandrine enrolls in a two year school to study farming. She is one of the better students and a hard worker. She finds a farm to buy in a beautiful hilly area somewhere between Paris and Grenoble, probably closer to Grenoble. The old owner had lost his wife some years back, and was just tired of farming, but he didn't look kindly upon "school" farmers, and wasn't very helpful at first. In fact it seemed like he wanted her to fail, even though he had contracted to remain living there for 18 months. But he slowly warmed up to her when he saw how kind she was, and how hard she worked. She converted one building into a hotel and advertised it over the internet as "Balconies in the Sky." She sold her goat cheese over the internet. She worked hard every day. Her business was good.

In a key scene during the cold winter, we see him causing a problem with her hotel's electricity, and we assume he is up to no good. But, what he wanted was for her to be near him, so without heat, he invited her to stay with him in the old guest bedroom. A few days later, he fixed the problem. They shared meals and conversation, and they even danced. Not long before, a sour old man, he now had a little joy in his life.

After a particularly hard winter, Sandrine had to take a break, went back to Paris, even taught two days of an internet class. She considered whether she should go back, and decided to. The movie ends with her leading the goats back to the barn in the spring.

"The Girl From Paris" is not a film the average person would likely watch. It's got subtitles, is very slow and deliberately paced and is about a young lady who abandons Paris to live and work on a farm. But it is a lovely film...one well worth seeing.

Sandrine (Mathilde Seigner) is on a farm owned by Adrien (Michel Serrault) when the film begins. She is looking it over and deciding whether or not to buy the place. So, instead of showing the steps leading up to Sandrine giving up her old life and moving to the farm, the film is more like a snapshot of her life...a small period in which she's already made the decision and has taken classes on agriculture. This is not a bad thing...just unusual that the context isn't important to the film.

As for the elderly Adrien, it's obvious early on that he isn't happy about selling and seems to have little interest nor regard for Sandrine and her new life. He seems, at best, indifferent or perhaps contemptuous of her decision. Slowly, however, through the course of the film the two become closer, as although he's sold the farm, he remains behind in his home while Sandrine lives in a nearby trailer.

Not surprisingly, as time passes, Sandrine and Adrien become a bit closer and he actually begins to talk...something he very rarely did earlier in the film. And, at times, her life is very tough as they live in a mountainous portion of the country....with lots of snow, cold and loneliness.

While none of this sounds exciting or wonderful, the film is very nice if you just accept it for what it is. Don't expect fireworks or romance or great depth....just see two people living their lives and, oddly, you will find that you care and enjoy these little moments.



By the way, I have some words of warning about the film. It is a no holds barred look at farm life. You see a pig brutally killed with lot of blood, several cows being killed and a goat having a stillbirth. It's not a film for the overly tender-hearted....but it is what farm life is often...the good and the ugly.

Greetings again from the darkness. Wonderful, subtle French film that displays the nuances of quiet desperation of the young and fear of loneliness and death of the elderly. Make no mistake, the venerable Michel Serrault MAKES this movie! He is downright remarkable as Adrien, the long time farmer, who sells is farm to the young city girl played well by Mathilde Seigner. Many excellent scenes including awkward moments for all. The ridiculous comments about cruelty to animals during the filming is not worthy of mention. This is a fact of life on a farm and obviously the cow scenes were real life - not created for the film. The pig scene, may be painful to watch, but effectively makes the point of life and death on a farm - just like the goat birth scene. As far as the rabbit, give me a break, we see a live bunny and then one being prepared for dinner. This can happen in any restaurant on a daily basis. Yes the hang glider was a bit too much, too often, but I loved the Volvo, the Weimeramer and the "dumb" goat. Very personal film with much insight into human nature at all ages.