Modern Life

I've said it many times before, that the best documentaries are those with no narration. The director who can get the subjects to speak for themselves is the one I want to watch. However, when the director must narrate and conduct interviews with the subjects, is it really to much to ask that they don't blatantly fish for controversy?

Modern Life claims to be a tribute to rural farmers in southern France, but from the first set of subjects on more than half the time is taken up with the director asking ridiculously leading questions and trying his hardest to stir up controversy. Granted these are probably not the easiest people in the world to get talking on camera, but that doesn't make it any less irritating to watch.

There are some good sides to the film, however. The shots of the countryside are beautiful, and several of the subjects do give a hint of some pretty interesting characters. But if the director had a point, it was lost on me. Most of the interviews felt me leaving either confused or sad, rather than inspired. But nobody offers any solutions, or even really addresses the issue. The basic message is at best, "farm life is hard, and old people are stubborn". Not a very profound message in the end.

Worth watching for some interesting people if you can get past the director. But not a must see.