A film whose main actor is a tree… “Le Chêne”, which is released in theaters on Wednesday, makes the daring bet of an “adventure” film without words or a trace of the human being.
This feature film, which stands out in the very crowded niche in recent months of films on nature and the environment, was presented at the Berlinale. But had no chance of winning the interpretation prize: its actors, on all fours or two wings, might not claim it.
Small mammals, birds and insects do not however deserve during the 01H20 of this film, which intends to visit the entire ecosystem of a bicentenary tree (210 years old, 9 tons, 17 meters high), and the multitude of animal species and plants that depend on it, from the tawny owl to the jay through the squirrel.
A feature film for all audiences and without voice-over, but which should not look like an animal documentary. A storyboard describing the adventures of the little characters was drawn, and followed as much as possible: “It’s very written, and really wanted to tell a story”, explains to AFP its producer and co-director, Michel Seydoux.
The spectator follows the little people of the tree over four seasons, their joys and their great miseries, telling “everything that revolves around the acorn”, he adds.
Love, with a mating scene between two beetles, beetles specialized in acorn drilling, adventure, when a heavy rain threatens to drown a colony of field mice, action, with a frantic chase between a raptor and a sparrow …
This last scene required 15 days of work for 1 min 20 of film, explains Michel Seydoux.
The producer has collaborated with a figure in wildlife cinema, Laurent Charbonnier, who has worked with Nicolas Vanier (“Le Dernier Trappeur”, “Loup”, “Belle et Sébastien”) or Jacques Perrin (“Le Peuple Migrateur”). Mr. Charbonnier spent a hundred days on the lookout in this tree, near his home in Sologne.
“During the confinement, there were no more planes, no more mowers or loggers, which simplified our task”, explains Michel Seydoux, whose film, which also recalls “Microcosmos: the people of herbe” (1996), is accompanied by explanatory podcasts and educational kits.
“We wanted to make a tool of wonder”, he continues, to raise public awareness “without giving lessons”, and in particular children, to the prowess of nature and questions of biodiversity.
