I had the pleasure of watching 'En quête de sens': a film about the quest for meaning in life. Two affable French post-adolescents travel in India and Latin America and try to address the question which has enticed philosophers for millenia: Mom, why do we live? The film is certainly worth your time but rather for the splendid images and well-chosen soundtrack than for the substantive answers it would provide: the film is a typical expression of the pantheistic romantic naturalism a part of post-modern Western society, including in France, is experiencing today. Without giving clear answers, the film vacillates between a plea for increased political ecology, a tribute to exoticism, a call for negative growth (décroissance) and de-digitalization, an attack against 'big corporations', and the nostalgia for ancient or traditional ways of living. The two film makers of this documentary are quite conscious about their hesitations and contradictions - and with the numerous planes they take and modern technology they use for making the film, actually have no choice but to be self-critical. Their naivety is charming, and at times convincing. The film is refreshing and does allow you to 'put things in perspective' without however detailing the standpoint from which they are analyzing the world. It is honest and aims at being profound without reaching real depth - for which the sound and image, luckily, amply compensate. The greatest merit of this documentary is probably that it pushes us to ask or reformulate that one question that really matters in life. And that is no small achievement.
3 Reviews
Very Cerebral Documentary
larrys327 July 2019
This very cerebral documentary centers on the concept that society today is hurtling towards its own destruction, mainly through the systematic plundering of the Earth's resources. The filmmakers, among other "out of the box" thinkers who are interviewed here, believe that the current system cannot be fixed at this point, and that a revolutionary new system must take its place if people are to survive on this planet.
Nathanael Coste, a doc filmmaker, and Marc de la Menardiere, a global water salesman, had been childhood friends but had not seen each other for a decade. Now, they get together to travel the globe looking for answers as to what may prevent this eventual demise of Earth if things continue on their present course.
Without getting into all the details and theories of the film, I will say that Nathanael and Marc believe that to reverse the obscene child mortality rate in the world, the loss of enormous amounts of wildlife species, the desecration and pollution of our environment, and the terribly unequal distribution of wealth, it will take a complete change of human consciousness to do so.
Although the movie shows us this is taking place already in many places, in order to really radically change our world, it will take a complete change in people's belief systems to the point where greed and constant consumerism are replaced by the concept that if we are to survive on this planet we must realize. like Buddhism, that we are all connected and one.
As I see it, the world cannot continue on its present path but it will take the realization that we are on the brink of destruction for us to change, or,as one thinker stated in the doc, we will be heading for a totalitarian oligarchy which will make all the decisions for us, as cold-blooded as that sounds In other words, we will be forced to change or perish.
All in all, I picked up this DVD at my local library, which was apparently distributed in 2015. But now 4 years later the same problems, if not worse, still exist and are even accelerating. If you have patience and are interested in getting your brain cells active, then you may find some very interesting concepts here, as I did.
Nathanael Coste, a doc filmmaker, and Marc de la Menardiere, a global water salesman, had been childhood friends but had not seen each other for a decade. Now, they get together to travel the globe looking for answers as to what may prevent this eventual demise of Earth if things continue on their present course.
Without getting into all the details and theories of the film, I will say that Nathanael and Marc believe that to reverse the obscene child mortality rate in the world, the loss of enormous amounts of wildlife species, the desecration and pollution of our environment, and the terribly unequal distribution of wealth, it will take a complete change of human consciousness to do so.
Although the movie shows us this is taking place already in many places, in order to really radically change our world, it will take a complete change in people's belief systems to the point where greed and constant consumerism are replaced by the concept that if we are to survive on this planet we must realize. like Buddhism, that we are all connected and one.
As I see it, the world cannot continue on its present path but it will take the realization that we are on the brink of destruction for us to change, or,as one thinker stated in the doc, we will be heading for a totalitarian oligarchy which will make all the decisions for us, as cold-blooded as that sounds In other words, we will be forced to change or perish.
All in all, I picked up this DVD at my local library, which was apparently distributed in 2015. But now 4 years later the same problems, if not worse, still exist and are even accelerating. If you have patience and are interested in getting your brain cells active, then you may find some very interesting concepts here, as I did.
A beautiful & naive quest for meaning in life - without real answers
emmanueldegroof-3068718 February 2017
I had the pleasure of watching 'En quête de sens': a film about the quest for meaning in life. Two affable French post-adolescents travel in India and Latin America and try to address the question which has enticed philosophers for millenia: Mom, why do we live? The film is certainly worth your time but rather for the splendid images and well-chosen soundtrack than for the substantive answers it would provide: the film is a typical expression of the pantheistic romantic naturalism a part of post-modern Western society, including in France, is experiencing today. Without giving clear answers, the film vacillates between a plea for increased political ecology, a tribute to exoticism, a call for negative growth (décroissance) and de-digitalization, an attack against 'big corporations', and the nostalgia for ancient or traditional ways of living. The two film makers of this documentary are quite conscious about their hesitations and contradictions - and with the numerous planes they take and modern technology they use for making the film, actually have no choice but to be self-critical. Their naivety is charming, and at times convincing. The film is refreshing and does allow you to 'put things in perspective' without however detailing the standpoint from which they are analyzing the world. It is honest and aims at being profound without however reaching real depth - for which the sound and image, luckily, amply compensate. The greatest merit of this documentary is probably that it pushes us to ask or reformulate that one question that really matters in life. And that is no small achievement.
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