This documentary, La Vie de Jean-Marie, is an example of cinéma vérité using black and white film to represent past memories and color film for present day life. Father Jean-Marie is quite content with his role in the parishes and feels very at home in his magnificent gardens of wild flowers and vegetables that he tends barefooted on the mountain side. His daily routines keep him agile and fit as he trims trees and plows the landscape to expand his garden. In order to meet the needs of his parishioners, he uses a small van to take him throughout the mountainside to community functions in his area.
Sometimes Father Jean-Marie reminisces about his early boyhood when he was in love with girls. There were a couple of lovely girls he remembers, but was too shy to move forward into a permanent relationship. He even remembers one girl who was lovely enough to receive his proposal for marriage, but he was disappointed with the outcome. Later, he prayed to Jesus to help him love Him the way he loved girls. Apparently, that prayer was answered since he joined the seminary and abandoned his love of girls for a higher calling.
The movie has a gentle pace and you feel as though you are a lingering shadow of Father Jean-Marie, following him around on his daily tasks. There is a benevolent mountain breeze with bees busily buzzing about, but Father Jean-Marie doesn't even notice them as he ardently attends to his flowers and plants. The terrain on the mountain is sloping, but the good Father plows along with his equipment and peaceful hands to trim the branches, pull the weeds, and keep his garden glowing in the mountain sun. His flowers are abundant and provides a beautiful bouquet for his church and Masses. Outside he has gathered lovely rocks to help complete the sacristy that he is building, complete with a tower for a bell. Up through his 70's and with little or no help, he struggles to complete his addition and prays that God will help him complete this task before he has finished his work in the parish.
I was particularly interested in this documentary from a religious point of view. I found it sweet and enchanting, yet quite contemporary in its thoughts. I literally felt as if I was in the Pyrenees myself as I watched the film and considered Pastor Jean-Marie to be a diligent and dutiful priest determined to administer the Church's sacraments, attend to the needs of his parishioners, and keep himself in good health and faith. After 41 years, he certainly deserved a retirement although he was concerned about who would take over his tasks, but still looked forward to a gentler time. Father Jean-Marie has found help and companionship to help him in his latter years of ministry. After his retirement, he would be able to devote special time to the spiritual gifts that God had blessed him with.
La Vie de Jean-Marie poses the question:
There is Heaven and there is Earth
There is God and there is Man
Yet how does one live?
You will find a twist in the story of Father Jean-Marie that is somewhat self-opinionated, but not such a departure for this generation. I enjoyed this documentary with all its twists and turns of the good Pastor's life, and felt that his decisions might be acceptable to a Higher Source. You might enjoy coming to your own conclusions after viewing. The only Special Feature is a trailer of the movie. The language is in French and Flemish with English subtitles. Sometimes the subtitles concluded before I finished reading, but the visual kept me in touch with the story. I think this documentary is a mixture of the spiritual and social of today's world and is a quaint but intriguing story that you might enjoy.
