A long time ago Charles Mackay wrote the excellent "Extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds". In the book, he commented on fashionable crazes, national obsessions and irrational beliefs. It is a pretty safe bet that Mackay, had he been living in our era, would have devoted several pages to the Bugarach delusion. According to this delusion, named after a tiny French village, the said village would be the only place on earth to escape the coming apocalypse. It was unclear just who or what had made the supposed prediction - the Mayas ? The Merovingians ? A consortium of Byzantine eunuchs and eremite Vikings ? - but this circumstance did not keep a wide variety of exaltés and illuminés from flocking to Bugarach. The nearby mountain peak, said to harbor great secrets, was overrun too.
Bugarach is still standing, but so far the promised end of the world has failed to materialize.
Now "Bugarach" is an agreeably watchable documentary which follows a number of people doing their thing as the date of the supposed catastrophe approaches. For instance, there's a teenage villager, born and bred in the region, who would like to become a professional magician and entertainer. He is far too sane to believe in the coming apocalypse, but he does see the presence of the assembled world press as an opportunity to make a name for himself. He crosses paths with an older counter-culture drifter, who seems to have constructed his very own personal mythology. Unsurprisingly, they speak different languages.
The documentary contains fine examples of real-life surrealism worthy of "Monty Python", such as the mayor and his staff getting flooded by questions and requests from all over the world. ("Do you have enough emergency shelters ?" "How do you plan to welcome the flying saucers ?" "Which hotel would you recommend to a party of Chinese/Columbian pilgrims ?") The whole craziness unfolds against a background of great natural beauty, what with the imposing Bugarach peak dominating a landscape of breathtaking loveliness. It is hard to escape the conclusion that it is homo sapiens, once again, who is fouling up the picture.
Recommended, especially to viewers interested in topics such as wonky predictions, new-age beliefs, social contagion and the spread of rumors.
