Va, Toto !

Toto is a young wild boar who has just found a home at Madeleine’s. This pet will be growing in our hearts but so will its paws. Vincent is especially fond of monkeys whose antics he’ll go and see all the way to India. And poor Joseph is having nightmares caused by the artificial breathing machine he is forced to use. Pierre is the one who ends up tying all of these adventures together. Pierre Creton, an agricultural laborer and film-maker living in Vattetot, finds here the spirit of Shepherd’s Time (L’Heure du Berger, FIDMarseille 2008 Great Prize). In other words, adding a colorful touch with fantasy to his autobiography, with the extraordinary caught within the ordinary, with love and affection for living beings, human and animal alike, with humor spicing up every beginning of drama. Except for one detail: Creton allows himself a fair amount of formal and poetic licence. Split screen, for instance; but also characters’ voices played off, recorded by renowned actresses or actors. In short, the film’s material thickens, affirming playfulness and determination, without ever, surprisingly enough, losing grace. And, with a single stroke, all the audacious connections the film puts forth turn out to be the more emotionally compelling ones, intertwining their complexities even further, unraveling their mysteries in ever more enlightening ways. Even though, as far as mysteries go, only love – whether repeated, percussive or in flight – is elected to perform the basso continuo part in this splendid plain-chant. (JPR)