It is an intense, torturous, passionate story in which fascination and hate, justified fears and exploited fantasies mix. This story is about the relationship we have had with another species for ages. Wolf, Symbol of wild nature, who would have the presumption to want to settle in the same areas as us and feed on the same meat. Jean-Michel Bertrand tells us in his whispering and calm voice in his documentary that is as beautiful as it is intelligent, as poetic as it is political. Living with wolves this Wednesday in the cinema. The filmmaker, whose third film is about the dog the valley of the wolves (2017) et Walk with the wolves (2020) never fall into Manichaeism. Despite his affection for animals, which he does not hide, he manages to convey the entire complexity of the delicate topic with great finesse. About thirty years ago, at the same time that the wolf was making a comeback in mainland France, it re-emerged from history books and stories of the time and reappeared in the local and national media.
“Terrorist of our mountains”
The plot of the film is well thought out. After the sometimes violent reception of his previous documentary by the critics of the wolf, which they refer to as “…” “Terrorist of our mountains” The director took refuge in an incredible wooden hut, nestled under the rock, somewhere in the middle of the splendor of the Ecrins massif. The opportunity for him – and by proxy for us – to question ourselves, reflect and philosophize about the eternal question of our relationship to nature, to the wilderness, to the place we are willing to grant him or not. Also the opportunity to delight our eyes with magnificent images of autumn burnt or snow-covered forests, larches bathed in sunlight or flowering meadows. And walking with him in the forest while the wolf is there: a family has just settled in the territory, we watch how they live for eighteen months, we listen to the parents howling or the babies yapping – captivating sounds, captured by audio naturalist Boris Jollivet. We also meet its prey: chamois, deer, wild boars and marmots, which are among the countless inhabitants of these enchanting places.
From his occasional hermit’s cave, where he cooks génep and dries porcini mushrooms, Jean-Michel Bertrand tells us why and how the wolf returned to the French Alps alone like a big wolf. It simply crossed the Italian border in the early 1990s, less than sixty years after it was eradicated in France. And here too, its history is closely linked to that of the people. The latter exploited the mountain so much, overgrazed it, and cut it down so much that it became barren and they had to flee like wolves and their prey at the end of the 19th century. Little by little, in the 20th century, the forest regained its rights thanks to reforestation plans. Wild ungulates followed, then their predator. Logic.
Stereotypes
The author shares with us his curiosity, his knowledge, his questions and his sensitivity and also explains how wolves, these land animals, live and how the resulting spread occurs. Out of a desire to preserve their pantry, they cannot bear to have too many of them in one place. The young born there therefore have to move far away as soon as they grow up, where there is still room for them. Hence the geographical spread of the species. Jean-Michel Bertrand refutes certain preconceived notions: no, wolves will not harm the hunt by eating all the prey, no, they will not swarm and destroy everything; They “only” make it possible to regulate the number of wild ungulates and thus promote the regeneration of the forest. What he reveals does not come out of nowhere. He visited hunters, breeders, shepherds and scientists, who he gives the floor to in the film. He even traveled to Abruzzo in central Italy, where in the 1970s it was decided to protect the wolf despite the existence of breeding facilities. Since then, the carnivore has become a tourist attraction while breeders have managed to control the predators through reduced herd sizes, sheepdogs, guard dogs and double fencing.
Breeders in France have also been able to adapt to the presence of the predator. Like Ingrid and Dédé in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, where we welcome volunteers from the PastoraLoup program to help them look after their livestock at night. In Ranrupt, a charming village in the Alsatian Vosges, the mayor decided, instead of crying, to act and organize an annual meeting that brings together all the users of the valley to promote dialogue and find the middle ground that satisfies everyone.
Nobody in the film says that living with the wolf is easy. Neither the young shepherds who were affected by the attacks of their sheep, nor Joseph and Olivier, breeders and shepherds in the Drôme Provençale. They point out that Patous marmots, chamois children or capercaillies chew and can devour large quantities of dry food “Made in Bulgaria and delivered by helicopter”. And don’t rule out shooting a wolf that’s applying too much pressure. Question of self-defense of the herd, to be distinguished from the systematic shootings advocated by some, including the French executive. With his documentary, Jean-Michel Bertrand wanted to “Overcoming the contradiction between extermination and sacralization of the wolf” and understand how “Prepare for their presence and build a peaceful coexistence with them.” It has been possible.
