A work of luminous beauty!
New 2K restoration
In the Burgundian countryside lives a couple in their eighties. Jules is a blacksmith and spends his days creating iron objects. His wife, Félicie, takes care of the vegetable garden, prepares their meals and shares morning coffee with him in the forge. The simplicity of their daily routine introduces us to the intimacy of a lifelong relationship...
Le Cousin Jules is a 1973 film directed by Dominique Benicheti, shot in Cinemascope and recorded in stereo, a real technical feat for the time. The filmmaker captures with precision the grandeur of the daily life of a couple of French farmers, which is reminiscent of Depardon from the trilogy Profils Paysans . Le Cousin Jules is an ode to the beauty of rural France, finally visible in its sumptuous restored 2K version!
“In Le Cousin Jules de Benicheti, innovation is inseparable from his artistic talent. Bright and delicately framed, his shots of rural landscapes will always recall 19th century French paintings. One can think of the radiant fields of Vincent Van Gogh, the hard-working peasants of Jean-François Millet or the meticulous but poetic landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. And yet Le Cousin Jules will speak to anyone who has spent time in the American countryside. Combining objectivity and beauty, coldness and warmth, it is ultimately a tribute to life itself. » The Wall Street Journal
A FILMING OVER FIVE YEARS
In 1968, at the age of 25, Dominique Benicheti began to direct Le Cousin Jules . Filming lasted for 5 years. Each image has been mocked up, and always photographed before shooting. By working with cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn, a classmate at IDHEC (Institut Des Hautes Études Cinematographiques), who was cinematographer for Truffaut and several illustrious French directors, Benicheti was able to create a masterpiece. work in Cinemascope and stereo. Jules, the blacksmith, was also a distant cousin of Benicheti.
In 1973, Dominique Benicheti explained how the idea of making this documentary came to him: “In Burgundy, I have a distant cousin on my mother's side; he lives in a small village near Pierre-de-Bresse. Jules was born in 1891. At the age of twenty-two, he married Félicie. His father and grandfather were blacksmiths. So he became a blacksmith himself. In my childhood, I spent all my summers there. I have always been fascinated by iron work. In 1967, I then decided to make a film about Jules. As soon as I had free time, apart from my work for television, I went to find him in Burgundy. I also took many photographs, which I used as studies. I had a very precise idea of the script for the film; I made sketches for each scene in a format similar to Cinemascope. With Paul Launay, my first cameraman, we started filming in April 1968.”
COUSIN JULES
(1973 – Colors – 90 mins)
new 2K restoration
SUPPLEMENTS *
. SEALED TIME
In this exclusive interview, director of photography Pierre-William Glenn discusses the filming of Cousin Jules and talks about the work of director Dominique Benicheti.
. AT THE ORIGIN OF A RESTORATION
Filmed in 2008, Dominique Benicheti explains the technical characteristics of his film and how the restoration of the image and sound takes place in order to preserve their specificities.
. SHOOTING RUSHES AND ARCHIVES
Filmed between 1968 and 1972, unseen images on the set of Cousin Jules . We find the majority of the team there (Dominique Benicheti and his sister Geneviève, Paul Launay, Pierre-William Glenn…) but also Jules and his wife Félicie. It is also a direct testimony to craftsmanship in the cinema where the long stretches of preparation give way to joyful carelessness.
. TRAILER 2015
* in HD on the Blu-ray version
Released October 21, 2015
