THE STORY – A Montréal copywriter sets out to reinvent himself as a sheep herder in the French Alps, despite knowing nothing about the centuries-old craft.
THE CAST – Félix-Antoine Duval, Solène Rigot, Guilaine Londez & Michel Benizri
THE TEAM – Sophie Deraspe (Director/Writer) & Mathyas Lefebure (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 113 Minutes
Who among us hasn’t quit a steady job as a Montréalian marketing agency’s top copywriter on a whim to pursue our brand-new passion for shepherding? Sophie Deraspe’s methodical directorial debut, the aptly titled “Shepherds,” argues that it might do everyone some good to kiss the rat race goodbye in favor of guiding a few hundred ewes up to the peak of the Provencian Alps. It doesn’t matter whether or not we’ve ever attempted it before, either; Mathyas Lefebure (Félix-Antoine Duval) certainly hasn’t, but that’s not enough to stop him from giving it a go.
The journey begins with a phone call to his boss, one that concludes with the assertion, “You make me sick.” Mathyas is hell-bent on calmly burning every bridge he’s ever built to ensure he can never look back. Why become a shepherd, specifically? Those details don’t matter nearly as much as the quest itself, though, in some ways, they are connected: Mathyas simply hopes to find peace, something that he feels has evaded him for years while working in Montréal. He wants to be a writer, just not the kind that has to operate as a corporate shill in order to get his words out into the world. He wonders if his raw fascination with this new gig could set off creative alarm bells. He even makes a point to tell his prospective farmhand employers that his goal is to become a writer, not something that usually works when applying to a job that has nothing to do with becoming a novelist, but hey, to each his own.
That naivety serves as the film’s guiding light, as Deraspe and her co-writer, Mathyas Lefebure himself – the film is based on his first novel, “D’où viens tu, berger?” (“Where are you coming from, shepherd?”), and to some extent, his life – make the shrewd decision to make Mathyas’ journey full of tribulations. A lesser film might have made Mathyas a quick study, but in “Shepherds,” he struggles for roughly half the film. He’s fired from his first job, one he snagged after bumbling into a bar and simply expressing interest, because he fails to herd sheep into a shearing shed in the proper amount of time. His second ends in burnout, thanks to the toxic work environment being fostered by a temperamental boss (Bruno Raffaelli) and a short-fused mentor (Michel Benizri). Notably, the head honcho’s wife never told Mathyas why they needed a new shepherd; figuring it out shouldn’t take a detective.
All would be lost in this newfound pursuit if not for Élise (Solène Rigot), a civil servant turned co-self-seeker inspired by Mathyas’ courage to leave it all behind and join him in his search for a tranquil life (Also tagging along is Hola, a dutiful border collie). As the trio paves their way through the French countryside, eventually finding another shepherding gig despite their blank resumés, “Shepherds,” too, finds its footing as a powerful story about self-reliance and the pitfalls of modern life.
Societal expectations tend to bear down upon anyone who has the option of breathing, and while watching Mathyas and Élise balk at the pressures of urban norms might be more of an idealistic experience than it is an interesting one for a narrative feature to focus on, the specifics Deraspe and Lefebure delve into make for a rich enough experience. You might not be ready to take up shepherding once it’s all said and done, but you might be less convinced that your cubicle is the only place you can belong.
“Shepherds” mostly gets by on its visuals, as Vincent Gonneville’s cinematography captures the rich texture of the fields and mountains where Mathyas and Élise practice their profession. One particular sequence, which sees the two stuck on top of a mountain as a terrifying lightning storm remains overhead for what feels like an eternity, is a cameraman’s showcase in every sense. But Duval and Rigot make for a compelling duo, as both actors provide their characters with a certain charm that goes a long way when the setting they communicate in most is knee-deep in sheep shit. The sexual tension between Mathyas and Élise is constantly present, but whether or not they consummate the relationship isn’t the point. Deraspe and her crew are more interested in their individual revelations than in crafting the complexities of a romantic relationship, and wisely so. A longing glance between the two gifted actors is more than enough to drive the point home.
More impactful than a potential for romance or any revelation about society’s role in our lives is Deraspe’s willingness to explore the intricacies of the shepherding field, down to the horrors it occasionally examines. Mathyas, as green as a newborn lamb, struggles with the harsher realities of shepherding like babies being abandoned by their mothers after difficult births or a mange outbreak that results in him having to kill a few sheep. But he never walks away from the job, not entirely. He may switch employers, but he remains a dedicated employee, driven to thrive in the role he created for himself. If nothing else, “Shepherds” captures how important that sense of pride can be in an individual. And who needs to write press releases when you can find fulfillment in doling out antibiotics to a flock that doesn’t demand you to make a deadline? Say, maybe Deraspe has something here.
