Climatic species

Films, documentaries, documentary films, arose at the same time, as we know, out of amazement and a desire to convey the emotion of the world as it is. From the Lumière brothers to Warhol, it is the same childhood extended, obtuse, stubborn in just watching, admiring, being surprised. But as a non-identical twin of this mouth agape, there are also films, also documentaries, with a scientific impulse, a will to explain, that of Marey, of Muybridge, that use films in order to point out what we did not see before, and say it. An unsolvable tension? Being silent, admiring, yet also showing, explaining? Is it possible to be both ignorant and knowledgeable? Let’s put it bluntly, this Brechtian dream, no matter what people say, is rarely fulfilled; let’s put it bluntly, it is quite taxing. It requires as much humility in science as in simplicity. Easier said than done. However it is, not only the challenge, but the blatant success of Christiane Geoffroy. Her film teaches at the same time as it takes us in the thick of ignorance as a prerequisite of observation. Her film is both about hearing and seeing. In other words, Climatic Species is made up of many species, woven with several threads. It is the result of different generations, it is a mix, it moves towards the future. Isn’t it what the whole film, image and voice, tries to make us aware of? This tree, and this other one, this scientist, and this other one, this she-bear, and this chalk-drawn fish, the opening of the film and its end « credits », make up the density of a bush which our vision is a part of. (JPR)