Although Tanner’s still making films (I recently saw 2004’s Paul s’en va), he’s completely dropped off the critical map since his great run of films of the seventies. Of which Jonah…, if not the best (I’ve always prefered Messidor’s uncompromising and even harsh stance to both its characters and the society they and the film indict), is certainly the most appealing. A socialist-humanist report on how the generation of ‘68, through its 8 central characters, were surviving through the years of disappointment in its aftermath, it uses humour, fantasy, and dialectical contrasts to offer a positive vision for the future. The utopian project at the centre of the film – the farm that brings all the characters together – fails, but the film’s final shot is one of hope, as the five-year-old Jonah holds a piece of chalk and starts writing for himself on the wall that holds portraits of all the film’s protagonists.
by Ian Johnston | Source: Doriane DVD
20 Nov 2005 11:08 PM | Submit Comment