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Cousin Jules

Play trailer Poster for Cousin Jules 1972 1h 31m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Filmmaker Dominique Benichetti spends five years recording the daily lives of two French farmers who live alone in the countryside.

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
J. Hoberman ARTINFO.com The framed monotony of this dailiness show is transfixing. May 21, 2015 Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader Focusing on archaic farming rituals to the exclusion of nearly everything else, the film has virtually no dialogue, but each sight and sound is monumental, communicating an entire way of life. May 14, 2015 Full Review Ty Burr Boston Globe "Cousin Jules" is one of those rare experiences that's rooted in the past yet feels very much of the moment. Rated: 4/4 Feb 26, 2014 Full Review Jordan M. Smith IONCINEMA.com As technically complicated as this process is, especially with non-fiction material, Benicheti made it appear effortless. Rated: 4/5 Nov 4, 2020 Full Review Mostafa Heddaya Hyperallergic Maestro-like, Benicheti coaxes mere footage of his cousin's routines into a transcendent quotidian realism. Jan 31, 2020 Full Review Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com A simple picture, but beautifully symbolic and endlessly fascinated with its subjects, looking to impart an appreciation for routine and its rhythmic elements, questing to manufacture screen poetry along the way. Rated: B Jul 5, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This movie is relentlessly simple. At first we were laughing at the lack of plot-depth, but as I subconsciously accepted its motivation and style it very slowly pulled me in like a glacier overtaking the landscape. Before long my mood was transformed and I found myself enjoying the movie like looking at a beautiful piece of art. There are parts of the movie where the action literally stops and the viewer is left to look at a fixed-frame of something that was barely moving anyway. Saying this is not a fast-paced movie is an understatement. Spoiler alert (but it doesn't really matter) The movie is about a geriatric blacksmith and his wife who live a very simple, slow life in rural France. The dialogue literally makes no difference and there's even a point where they stop showing subtitles. This movie gave me 3 very distinct reflections on my own life, the first of which is gratitude. The pace of the movie matches the pace of their lives. It gave me time to reflect on many things and in a way changed me. First of all they have almost no modern conveniences. I saw a single light bulb in their entire world and if they wanted anything, there was a manual process to get it. One of the characters spends 10 minutes making a pot of coffee. Get the bucket, use the well to get water, put wood in the stove, bring the water to a boil, etc. My first life-reflection was gratitude for all of the modern conveniences we have. There's something reassuring about the lack of aspirations these two have, both because of the lives they live and their age. Their days are filled with many small, simple but manual duties that almost assuredly fill them with a feeling of accomplishment every hour of their lives. The second reflection was to remember how much an honest days work almost certainly brings a sense of wholeness or well being in my life. The couple in the move are most certainly poor. They wear wooden shoes, they eat simple meals, they have no luxuries or modern conveniences. But they on thing they are not, is dirty. They clearly have self respect and even though their one room house looks like it is as old as they are, it's almost never untidy. The third reflection was simply that anyone can have self respect, which is probably a product of hard work and and not taking anything for granted. Go see this movie on a slow day when you are reflective, you'll have plenty of time to think. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Cousin Jules

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Cast & Crew

Faces Places 99% 89% Faces Places Watchlist TRAILER for Faces Places All the Time in the World 75% 89% All the Time in the World Watchlist If You Build It 78% 88% If You Build It Watchlist Sacro GRA 77% 53% Sacro GRA Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Dominique Benichetti spends five years recording the daily lives of two French farmers who live alone in the countryside.
Director
Dominique Benicheti
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
French (France)
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Nov 27, 2013
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 31m