THE GLEANERS AND I in under 3 minutes
Right now... the BONUS
TWO YEARS LATER
THE GLEANERS AND I TWO YEARS ON
With the gIeaners of yesterday and today
I thank them
These thumbnaiIs are from The GIeaners and I
which came out in 2000.
You can see the repeated gesture of bending down to pick things up.
GIeaning urban waste,
gIeaning the earth's fruit, food abandoned on the ground.
StrangeIy, I was given some earth in Mainz
from severaI European countries.
The Heimat Prize - ''Heimat'' meaning ''homeIand'' -
is the most appropriate trophy
that this fiIm has picked up:
the medaIs, dipIomas, pyramids, coIumns, etc.
and the prizes given to me in my oId age.
Here they are. Show's over.
Now Iet's move on.
Other rewards: Ietters and gifts
None of my fiIms rompted so many Ietters.
Often containing originaI items,
embroidered cards,
unusuaIIy-sized enveIopes,
tiny waIIets, fragiIe IittIe notes,
feathers, images, photos, beautifuI pictures...
Sometimes I repIied, not aIways.
CoIors, coIIages...
If I didn't repIy, I apoIogize and say thank you.
Who wrote to me from a train?
And put a stamp on his traveI waIIet?
And sent his cinema ticket
and spoke for both of them? Who are they?
Curious to meet them, I aIso took a train ticket
and my new backpack.
As I went aIong the Loire,
I Iook at Mauves Bridge.
''Jacquot'' made an animation fiIm on it when he was 1 1 .
You can recognize the crosspieces
and the bombing drawn frame by frame.
The airpIanes go away...
And I arrive in TrentemouIt.
My passport!
That day I had a sore throat.
We've never met but...
I feeI I know you.
This Ietter brought us together!
They take me home,
an oId butcher's shop, now their workshop
and the neighborhood workshop
which saIvages materiaIs.
When we first arrived, we saIvaged
a Iot of things from the markets.
Food... and these crates.
We find them usefuI for making aII kinds of things.
We transform everyday Iife, we make it our own.
It takes different forms.
It may become a book or an instaIIation.
Objects, too.
- PracticaI, everyday objects? - That, too.
They show me a coIIective book,
made of Ieftovers, offcuts of drawings,
pieces of paper and paintings.
Everyone did their bit.
They aIso show me a photo aIbum.
Oh, Iook!
We have this in common, too.
This potato warms my heart!
As does their Ietter which he rereads to me.
I may be a boy who ''doesn't cry'', they say.
Tears came to my eyes for the second time that day.
I'm writing for both of us.
What effect does a fiIm have?
What reaches the fiImgoer?
That's my question.
What came through to you?
I think that seeing this fiIm was Iike a rebirth.
After what had happened...
We had come for the death of a friend.
Then, this fiIm just compIeteIy
put us back in touch with ourseIves... with Iife.
Yet it taIks a Iot about Ieftovers...
things that are abandoned.
Yes, but... it's made by someone who's aIive.
The fiImmaker is very much aIive.
So far, so good!
So many peopIe are poor, in precarious situations.
- But they... - ...get by, they adapt.
That's what Iife's about - Iearning to adapt.
I'II remember this Iunch in the sunshine,
with sunfIower seeds in the saIad.
I'II remember their IoveIy, smiIing faces.
PhiIippe carefuIIy reading his own Ietter,
DeIphine's hair heId up by a penciI,
her hands upturned in offering,
and the gust of wind when I was about to Ieave...
shaking the pink fIowers of their fruit tree
whiIe they finished their drinks.
The Ietters on the waII reminded us
we were near Nantes, home of LU cookies.
Other Ietters awaited me when I arrived home.
The Ietter writers Iiked the fiIm.
Some teII me about their Iives, about gIeaning...
They enjoyed meeting the gIeaners in the fiIm,
especiaIIy AIain F who impressed them.
They use the same words:
''vegetarian'', ''bIack faces'',
''voIunteer'', ''vegetarian'',
''bioIogist'', ''teaching iIIiterates''...
ALAIN F., market gIeaner,
newspaper seIIer and teacher
I've often met AIain over the past 2 years.
Saturdays, I come at the end of the market.
We have a coffee when he's finished fiIIing his big bag.
His bIue bag was stoIen,
so now it's a red bag.
My personaI situation hasn't changed.
I'm stiII a voIunteer, gIeaner and paper seIIer.
No change there!
FinanciaIIy speaking, yes, some peopIe stop and buy my paper.
PeopIe who never stopped before
do now after seeing the fiIm.
They taIk to me more.
Theater managers asked him to come aIong
to the debates.
We said, ''OK, hire him''.
After the fiIm, I was contacted...
5 times.
He was paid to taIk.
His pet subject: famine, worId hunger.
He knows his subject and can quote statistics.
And the fiIm?
What do I think about it?
PersonaIIy, I think that the fiIm is...
weII-done...
It has reached a Iot of peopIe.
What are you Iess fond of?
Your presence, mainIy!
I think your seIf-portrait is not weII-done.
At Ieast that's what I think...
Not weII-done or unnecessary?
I think it's unnecessary.
It didn't bother peopIe too much, though.
I haven't heard any remarks about it.
I gIean, too. I gIean images
for my fiIm.
No, that's not it. It's when you fiIm yourseIf.
You're not picking things up - you're just there.
When you show your hair, your Iiver spots...
You're showing your oId age...
If peopIe find it interesting, good for them, but I don't.
I didn't Iike that, but that's my opinion.
She's not that present. She's aIways behind her camera.
I think so, too, but...
it's good to hear other opinions.
WeII, I saw the fiIm severaI times, but...
- It was on TV recentIy... - Yes, on Arte.
Someone recorded it for me, and I enjoyed watching it again.
- StiII teaching peopIe to read? - Oh, yes.
He's a pIucky Iad. Amazing.
What he does is so great...
Don't exaggerate...
I'm not exaggerating.
It makes you want to be a better person...
to pay more attention to other peopIe.
''Makes a change'', as T�I�rama wrote.
Text and photos
of AIain teaching students by night
and gIeaning his food by day.
He's exempIary. He's much taIked about.
He's a star ever since I saw him on TV.
After that TV report, I had the opportunity
to go up and speak to him. I wouIdn't have dared to, otherwise.
He's cIearIy pIeased by this.
Have the two of you become paIs?
When we run into each other...
Let me buy you coffee.
We're acquaintances.
It was a surprise to see
that he was a voIunteer
aIthough he's in a difficuIt financiaI situation.
- Decaf? - For me.
They taIked about consumerism, ecoIogy, gIeaning.
She asked questions:
Did he find aII his food?
Didn't he buy anything? Yes, the coffee.
And eating raw, coId fruit and vegetabIes and bread -
is that a heaIthy diet?
Yes, indeed. In fact, next month, I'm running the marathon.
Porte de VersaiIIes, the day before the race.
Here's where it starts.
City HaII offers the runners a pIate of pasta.
AIain eats theses sIow sugars... sIowIy.
He's taking it seriousIy.
I'II go home sIowIy,
drink some horsetaiI tea,
a yogurt, and there you are.
I drink the horsetaiI
so that my knees don't hurt during the marathon,
to make my joints soIid.
7:30 next day, he's on the Champs EIys�es.
It's coId. He waIked from Montparnasse.
He's warming up.
Do you train beforehand?
No, but I waIk.
Sometimes I waIk from La Verri�re to Paris.
It's 20 miIes.
It's stiII coId. The others are dressed
in puIIovers, space bIankets, garbage bags, fine sweaters.
He's the onIy one in a ''Street'' jersey,
an anti-excIusion newspaper.
And his speciaI running shoes?
Reeboks I gIeaned in a trash can!
Where?
Montparnasse.
A decent pair of Reeboks.
- Your size? - Yes.
One Iast orange, then he's off
on his 1 0th marathon.
They aII throw away their puIIovers and sweaters.
I never thought I'd find gIeaning here.
WaIking through the garbage bags,
they pick up the discarded puIIovers.
They are very picky
as they fiII their bags.
Then, aIong come the garbage trucks.
The runners are aIready far away.
29,000 at the start. Based on their average,
we more or Iess know when they'II come by.
I wait in the park. AIain shouIdn't be Iong.
I scrutinize the crowd.
Jean-No�I manages to fiIm AIain from the side.
I get distracted and nearIy miss him.
I'm not much use as a sports reporter!
Further on, a suppIies post.
IsabeIIe fiIms AIain.
MeanwhiIe, I hurry off in the car
to SoIf�rino Bridge, then I approach the runners.
I hope in vain to see AIain.
I go to the finishing Iine,
the scene of enthusiasm and exhaustion.
WiII AIain saIute, yeII, embrace someone? No.
He's arrived, he's here...
just as caIm and serious as at the start.
He has the microchip removed
that was inserted at the start
to record his exact time.
AIain ran the 26 or so miIes
in 3 hours 37 minutes.
He then waIked for 4 hours to Ioosen up his muscIes.
What a guy!
I waIk sIowIy, but often,
sometimes with the camera pointing down
to record the voices of peopIe who don't want to be fiImed.
In town
or in the country.
I return to the potato growers of Beauce,
the region of a thousand towns (''viIIes'').
Potato growers
We came to fiIm you 2 years ago.
Do we Iook oIder? Younger?
You don't Iook bad. You've kept weII!
Everyone says those farmers are handsome.
They said that?
No one ever phoned up to ask to marry us!
Did you see the fiIm?
ActuaIIy, I arrived 1 0 minutes after the start of the fiIm.
UnIuckiIy for us, the bit we're in
is at the start.
So, I had to stay in the theater
and watch the second showing.
Shows I was determined!
Lots of peopIe from around here phoned up to say
they'd seen us on TV.
We're not necessariIy on the right side.
The bosses' side...
Right, we're on the bosses' side but...
it takes aII sorts to make a worId.
They were going to dump potatoes.
NicoIas took me with him.
On the way,
he toId me about his Iife, his famiIy... his chiIdren, mostIy.
Over the engine noise,
his confidence and his confidences moved me.
He empties the truck.
I hoped I'd find more heart-shaped potatoes.
It's now the fiIm's symboI.
Perhaps my embIem.
I fiIm, I Iook... Ah, here's one!
Phew, found one!
One day, I receive an originaI drawing from Cardon.
A winged horse... and perhaps me.
I repIy at once on my dictionary paper:
''Thank you, dear Cardon.'' Then, he sends another gift.
A whoIe book.
I think to myseIf:
''Thanks to my fiIm which Cardon discovered,
I discovered Cardon's worId.''
SoIitary peopIe,
peopIe who have troubIe understanding...
A screaming man.
Soon after, I see Edward Munch's Scream
in OsIo where I went to present the fiIm.
The Scream aIong with other paintings by him.
I tend to agree to show my fiIm
in towns with museums
to discover or rediscover.
The titIe of my fiIm
in French, ''The GIeaners
and the GIeaneress'' became ''and I''.
In PortugaI, I'm a ''Respigadora''. OIa!
In Japan, it's ''O Chi Bo Hi Lo Hi''... I think!
More or Iess.
''GIeaning faIIen wheat''.
The subtitIe is ''Agnes traveIs with her camera''.
TaIking of traveIing, it's aIways the same:
windows of sky,
stewed tea,
and numb feet.
Back home.
Zgougou drinks miIk, and me miId tea.
A gift: jam made from gIeaned grapes.
A gift: my initiaIs made of chocoIate.
Another gift from Japan
for ChiIdren's Day:
tiny candies.
Sophie from the 1 01 Nights crew
sends a book made by her brother GuiIIaume.
It's a ''thing for writing in''.
I never wiII - it's too good.
I can't get used to aII the gifts from the audience.
I'm fiIIed with wonder.
I receive books and projects on the subject
of Ieftovers. And beautifuI Ieftovers.
GIeaner of inconsoIabIe things
I'II get everything out. A doiIy...
I think this is magnificent, it's Iike a signaI.
These IittIe things...
By the huge PaIais de ChaiIIot,
Macha gets out her tiny, shabby objects.
It's as if gIeaning is my mission.
I pick things up
to teII our story.
I think that objects contain a part of us.
- TeII our story or...? - Contain us.
- Are you in this yeIIow doiIy? - Yes.
It's fragiIe...
I'm not a coIIector, I don't...
Iook at an object for itseIf but...
There's a huge transfer of things that are Iost...
Iost, picked up...
There's this trade in aII things...
Connections, things which circuIate.
They Ieave wonderfuI traces of...
I imagine... the reIationship peopIe had with these objects.
It's a rather indirect, modest way
of meeting these peopIe.
It's as if they gave me a sign.
Are they the coupIe off a wedding cake?
They were stiII wrapped.
They weren't used
or chosen. That interested me.
An inert object teIIs of Iife
and ceIebrates it.
That's what an exhibition is: a ceIebration.
There's something painfuI in aII of this.
The order seeks to ease that pain.
At the same time,
there's an attempt at humor.
Dried, abandoned, artificiaI fIowers.
I just put them there Iike that,
as if they just Ianded on a tabIe.
The tabIe,
the bed: the key furniture in the house.
This is the bed.
It is the scene of both desire and disaster.
It is both a bed...
a nuptiaI bed, a tomb, a dream...
the remains of an unforgettabIe day.
A sentimentaI gIeaner, no doubt.
A gIeaner of yore, perhaps.
Handwritten Ietters,
some coIIectiveIy written,
aII friendIy.
A few neatIy typed ones.
One with an anagram
and a button stuck on it and a giant button photo.
MicheI does button theme parties.
I caII him Mr Buttons
and off I go to see him.
WiII we come unstitched?
I identified with every twist and turn of your fiIm.
I pick up watch parts. That's Iost time.
Your cIock with no hands is perfect.
I coIIect IittIe things which are scattered here and there
and which are no use.
4 or 5 years ago, I just became interested in buttons.
I started with the idea of a fIock of buttons.
In terms of the form...
A fIock of mutton or buttons?
A fIock of buttons because of the sIight shift in meaning.
I thought, there's nothing more dumb than a button!
It's round with 2 round hoIes.
In terms of the form, it's interesting to expIore.
A mine of possibiIities.
Then I started to sew on a white button with white thread
in tribute to MaIevich's White Square.
Then, a bIack button and thread. And one thing just Ied to another.
As a chiId, I wouId pIay with my mom's button box.
So, I sensed there was something in it
Iinked to the mother.
Patrimony with an ''M''!
I have my mother's button box.
My daughter does costumes,
so she coIIects buttons.
In the end, I reaIized it had to do with the emotions,
that it conveyed memories.
Today I picked up eIeven.
Where?
This one, Rue de Ia Pierre PIant�e.
- On the ground? - Yes.
You're a button gIeaner?
It shows my journey. I found the first in Buenos Aires,
the second in Pnom Penh, the third here in ViIIefranche.
Maybe this was a portent of our meeting:
I Iost a button haIf an hour ago. Here.
Maybe I can pick up one off you.
What you need is a IittIe pink one with two hoIes.
Yes, that one.
Someone who Iost a button misses it.
So, you're aIways in touch with the person who Iost it.
I'd Iost touch with the peopIe from the caravans.
The peopIe from the caravans CIaude M.
CIaude had Ieft the traveIers' camp where I had fiImed him.
I heard from various peopIe that he was in centraI France.
I went back on the road.
I found him.
Things weren't working out too great at Etampes, you know.
Living in a caravan...
WeII, a friend
said he'd heIp me out:
''You can come here, no probIem.''
Let me teII you something.
For now he Iives here for now...
I took him in.
That's good of you.
For a few months, then...
LittIe George came to the camp
and asked if I'd heIp his mom.
If it's for his mom, there's no probIem.
I fix up the house, do this and that... the gardening.
The Ieaves need picking up, so I do it.
I Iook after... I Iook after the whoIe pIace.
In exchange, he gets board and Iodging.
WeII, a meaI a day.
Your famiIy?
Your chiIdren?
Not much news.
I don't even have any news of my mom. That's partIy my fauIt.
For a whiIe I reaIIy Iet myseIf...
I did it myseIf. I Iet myseIf go.
Now I want to fight back.
He seemed sincere and he hadn't drunk anything,
but in the car, he stank of wine.
I might have the odd gIass,
but compared to before, when it was 2 or 3 bottIes...
I've totaIIy changed!
CIaude's oId paIs
One day in Etampes, whiIe I focus my camera,
I recognize GisIaine. I go nearer.
We met 2 years ago.
Yes, at the traveIers' camp.
- You're not there anymore? - No.
- And B�bert? - I'm Iiving with him in a garden.
A friend has a garden shed.
- This is my pIace. - His pIace.
But it's tough.
We share our meaIs.
We heIp each other out.
You know, you Iook better than before.
I got a boyfriend. We'II see...
A Iot of peopIe don't Iike it.
Oh, why?
He's West Indian.
I've known him for a month, but we see each other once a week.
I'm seeing him tomorrow.
You're in Iove?
WeII, yeah! They say that at my age...
But you're never too oId.
I'm 49 and he's 31 .
- He's a bit younger. - Yes, a bit.
Now I can go 5 or 6 days without drinking.
- Maybe it's Iove? - Maybe.
You used to drink a Iot?
Yes, I did, but I stiII drink.
Less than before, but I stiII do.
How much is ''a Iot''?
Drinking a Iot means...
1 0 to 1 5 Iiters a day. It's an awfuI Iot.
Liters of what?
I drink ros�. It's terribIe...
Last time, I fiImed you when you were shouting.
- Can I put it in the fiIm? - No probIem.
CIaude, Iet's go see GisIaine, because...
we got on weII.
We can try...
Get Iost.
The Iady wants to taIk.
I don't wanna taIk to anybody! Shut the door! Leave me aIone!
Are you angry?
Or are you sick?
Shut the door or I'II kick your head in!
I was afraid I'd upset you. You were so drunk that day.
Yes, I know. So what?
I want a Iot of peopIe to see that and understand.
Then they'II see what it's Iike to Iive in poverty
in the street and aII, and why they drink.
Some peopIe want to stop drinking. If they don't get heIp,
they'II never manage it.
WiII I stiII see you on Saturday?
It's sunny here today.
Isn't it sunny there?
WeII, the sun's in your heart. That's a good start.
6 months Iater,
quite by chance,
whiIe Iooking for someone
at the CathoIic Aid canteen,
I was surprised to find CIaude.
I Iet him finish eating
his good, CathoIic meaI:
saIad, chicken, potatoes, cheese, and fruit.
We meet in the yard.
He has a nice jacket and shirt.
Now he's wired for sound.
I came back, I've got friends here.
I met GisIaine. She got me in there.
I Iived there for a coupIe of months.
When I saw how things were there,
I went to CoIuche's. They heIped me find...
The CoIuche who started the Restaurants of the Heart.
I know P,querette (Daisy).
She runs the Restaurant.
She heIped me get into the Sonacotra sheIter.
They took me right away.
Now I don't sIeep in caravans or outside.
I'm in the warm.
- Is Iife better? - Much.
Got a TV?
In the evening, I watch the news. I Iike that.
I heIped GisIaine get into the Sonacotra.
She's there now, not outside.
- You're stiII friends? - Oh, yeah, sure.
We're not together now, but we get on, we see each other a Iot.
A change for her, too?
Yes, I think so. Starting with personaI hygiene and so on.
Is she stiII in Iove?
With her guy from Martinique, I suppose so.
I'm more independent now.
I'm not at the mercy of... Do this or do that...
The man from Aix who had big boots
- Peek-a-boo! It's me! - Ah, it's Fran�ois.
A IittIe kiss.
We were to meet in Aix, but Fran�ois came to Paris.
That's right.
We saw you
waIking around Aix, proud and virtuaIIy procIaiming
the right to saIvage things.
2 years Iater, I stiII procIaim that right,
but that right isn't granted to me anymore.
I thought there was a probIem.
One day, you caIIed me, not from home.
I wasn't exactIy home - I was in the psychiatric ward.
Fran�ois took home stuff
which he stored in the ceIIar and stairweIIs.
The neighbors caIIed the poIice.
There was troubIe between them and me.
- And? - The poIice considered it necessary
to put me under psychiatric observation.
How did you feeI?
It was hard.
I feIt victimized and condemned at the same time.
By who? Society?
By society, in a way.
They don't Iike the way I Iive.
Didn't a neighbor say you were nice?
Being nice isn't enough for them. You have to be normaI, too.
What happened to your boots?
The boots are very symboIic,
because when I was institutionaIized,
they were worn out and went in the trash.
So, what the trash gave, the trash took away.
I'm no Ionger the Iord of the town.
In a way, I'm the prisoner of the town.
And yet, not Iong before,
on the TV show, NuIIe Part AiIIeurs (Nowhere EIse ),
he was sure of his right and his choices.
You've Iived 1 00%%% off saIvaging for 1 0 years.
So, is it by choice?
AbsoIuteIy. I'm someone who eats 1 00%%% trash.
The body's ceIIs are regenerated every 7 years,
so I'm 1 00%%% trash. My cIothes are 1 00%%% trash.
It's a choice on ethicaI grounds.
What I hate seeing is peopIe aII over the worId going hungry.
That wiII aIways be the case,
but most of aII, I hate seeing everything peopIe throw out.
What's the best you found?
A whoIe vacuum-packed ''foie gras''.
Top quaIity... Vacuum-packed duck.
Another thing which breaks my heart is
the stock of frozen fish.
This wastage is scandaIous, so gIeaning makes sense.
It makes sense not to throw out yogurt once it's expired,
not to throw out fish once it's officiaIIy expired.
The food industry has got incredibIy high safety standards.
Do you never get sick?
Never! No, never.
REC YCLING RAP
Are you OK with peopIe starving?
No one cares
Look at the market staIIs
Look at the food thrown away
Bend down, but don't Iower yourseIf
When I see them stooping I suffer for them
I hurt to see them saIvaging for food
Having to pick up food that's rotting
Going around markets, eating trash
There are onIy Ieftovers Ieft
They saIvage things of no vaIue to us
Before the street sweepers come
The man with the artichoke
As weII as saIvaging food, I'm a vegetarian.
- Is that aII you Iive off? - No, but...
I try to keep my hand in.
With our present and future governments,
I don't think we'II have
much chance of moving forward and saving peopIe from poverty.
Look at this weII-cIeaned artichoke.
Even in poor countries,
some sociaI cIasses
waste a Iot, too.
Wasting something shows a Iack of respect
for the worker who made it.
That's one of the main reasons I saIvage.
I've ''recycIed'' myseIf in anti-consumerism.
As I'm a vegetarian, I don't have the probIem
of eating meat that has gone bad.
If a vegetabIe has gone bad, it shows.
You don't take it.
And in theory, it's not toxic.
- Where do you Iive? - In a squat.
We don't Iive in pIaces now - we squat.
Why are you fiIming this?
I teII him it's a documentary.
I've spent 2 years taIking to saIvagers
and I fiIm them.
I enjoyed fiIming him.
I aIso enjoy fiIming potatoes, Iife going by,
and cats.
Hi SaIomon, so Iong CharIy
HeIIo, SaIomon.
How goes it?
- It's been a whiIe. - UnbeIievabIe!
Two years!
SaIomon takes me to the house we fiImed in.
CharIy's house.
A face Iike Ho Chi Minh's.
CharIy is no more.
He died a few months ago.
He was your friend.
Yes, and it's hard to...
get aIong without him. It reaIIy is.
I feeI so sad.
CharIy
went out on Wednesdays
to go to the Post Office and to come see me.
More than a customer, he became a friend.
One thing I remember about him
was that he came to offer me champagne before Christmas.
And he had a sword in his cane. Everyone knew that.
What can you say about CharIy?
He was a wise man. A wise man.
Here and there, bit by bit
I work with the merchants
every Wednesday and every Sunday.
I unIoad the goods off their trucks.
I heIp them set up.
This morning, I got 1 50 francs.
And Iater on, when the market's over,
they'II pay me some more.
Every IittIe heIps...
Yes, but it's not much. They just take advantage.
Oh, you know... I don't do very much.
Here and there, bit by bit...
Is it enough to Iive on?
WeII, it's not bad.
This is my bedroom.
- Can you sIeep in there? - Sure, no probIem.
Where do you find water and so on?
- I've got water. - Where? Show me.
I've aIways got water.
- Where do you wash? - At the garage.
- They have a shower? - Yes.
If you know how to get by...
you'II aIways be aIright.
Are you mad at anyone?
No, no! No way.
On the contrary. I prefer to make peopIe Iaugh,
make them happy, cheer them up.
A bedroom in an oId van,
the washing machine on the sidewaIk,
an armchair,
two armchairs,
a sofa...
That reminds me of something.
An Emotion Picture by Agn�s
- This one? - Yes.
Let's roII it.
Don't hurt yourseIf.
3 chiIdren run past.
3 chiIdren.
There's the taIe of the three IittIe chiIdren
who gIeaned in the fieIds.
AIone or with mom.
Poor chiIdren.
The sky is threatening, a storm is brewing.
The chiIdren must be afraid.
The storm aIso threatens the Chambaudoin GIeaners,
painted by H�douin in 1 852 before MiIIet's GIeaners.
When a painting Ieaves its reserve
Now we can caress the painting!
I was invited,
having brought this painting out of the shadowy reserve,
to witness its unpacking after its restoration.
I'm compIeteIy carried away
to take part in this painting's history.
After the fiIm came out, many peopIe asked to see this painting.
I thought that it shouId be the first painting
to be restored and dispIayed
for the opening of the oId museum's reserve.
Here's Brigitte Lauren�on, the curator,
teIIing the story:
I phoned up and spoke of this hidden painting I knew about,
I had come to fiIm, the painting had been brought up
into the Iight of day.
When we came to your IittIe courtyard,
it suddenIy became windy.
Your hair and your skirt aII...
SuddenIy there was the gust of wind before the impending storm.
It seemed Iike a miracIe of cinema: you organize things,
the peopIe are kind, competent,
favorabIe, cooperative...
Then, this marveIous gust of wind comes aIong.
And no fiImmaker can order and obtain that.
Nor did I order or choose this caIendar
with JuIes Breton's The GIeaners' Return.
The maiIman from Bonnieux chose it for me.
He aIso gave me a painting in which he's taII
and handing me a Ietter. At Ieast I think it's me.
This is the painting maiIman, Jackie Patin.
I Iiked his gift.
Another funny gift.
Now it's the opposite:
I'm the giant,
according to this supposedIy crazy guy, Jacques Arnaud.
A drawing by Chris Marker with the famous cat, GuiIIaume en Egypte.
He reminds me that in his CD-ROM Immemory - a unique work -
we see gIeaners picking up a bIoody siIhouette,
crushed by a nightmarish tank.
GIeaners gaIore!
I'm shown them, I'm sent them, I see them everywhere.
CouId Jean-Fran�ois MiIIet ever have imagined
so many of his GIeaners in so many coIors?
Hand-coIored postcards...
The brightest one was sent to me by Pa�ni.
The most eccentric is Pr�vert's version.
Laurent Roth sent a copy of the coIIage.
I go to the NationaI to fiIm the originaI
and study the coIIage cIose up.
It becomes a game of Spot the Differences!
To compare the aprons, the photocopy and a postcard.
The bow has become a propeIIer.
OnIy the gIeaner on the right can fIy!
Lubtchansky sends me a photo of his coIIection of ''chromo-gIeaners''.
Like me, he's a fan of ''picker-up-ers''.
Not to be outdone, Leendert de Jong sends me a Dutch porthoIe
with the GIeaners inside.
The frames vary.
Except the Orsay one, they're modest.
This painting has become popuIar.
Even embroideresses reproduce it.
And advertisers.
This is the smaIIest picture of the GIeaners
with advertising on the back.
Against pouItry choIera GaIIia Powder
The stamps from Togo are smaII, too.
The gIeaners of stars is a charming idea.
Leftover stars.
GIeaners of stardust.
More down-to-earth: Iet's taIk potatoes!
Some Iight-hearted education...
The heart-shaped potato I Iaunched bounced back:
I get them in my maiIbox and even in a Ietter.
Or in pictures.
This one offered up in memory of a chiId.
One can't heIp but be moved.
PeopIe bring them, too.
I treat them Iike treasures.
I watch them grow oId.
Then, I get a heart-shaped carrot.
A carrot with 2 ventricIes or 2 heads.
It was taken by a documentary maker, R�my BatteauIt.
He says his mother found the carrot. I have to go find her.
Ah, it's the card he sent you?
I didn't know.
''After the now ubiquitous heart-shaped potato,
Ma Josette has found...''
I'm far too emotionaI to be abIe to speak!
What your son did was great.
Yes, that's true.
Read it out to me.
''After the now ubiquitous heart-shaped potato,
Ma Josette has found for you the heart-shaped carrot.
The whoIe thing was of course done without any speciaI effects
and can be used in The GIeaners and I, Part II.''
What a story!
He taIks of his projects in his Ietter to me.
''I'm thinking of you as I'm making a documentary
on my famiIy's butcher's.''
The store gives me the chance to communicate with peopIe.
I have a Iot of customers with whom I exchange
impressions and so on.
The GIeaners and I, for everyone here,
- was marveIous. - Very instructive.
PeopIe are deepIy moved by this fiIm.
There is an intensity of feeIing.
It's the peopIe in it that are extraordinary.
Make no mistake.
They are the actors in the fiIm
and it's true that they are very touching.
I've got Rosette sausages for you aII, which I made myseIf.
Ah, the Rosette is my passion.
It's the thing I Iike making best of aII.
I've won 1 2 goId medaIs with that Rosette
since I started.
I'm so fond of this particuIar product that I Iike it
when peopIe try it and give me their opinion.
- 3 Rosettes... - There you go.
Thanks, Josette, thanks, Roger.
Rosette comes from Roger and Josette:
''Ro'' and ''sette''.
As Iuck wouId have it, Roger met Josette,
and Roger Iikes making Rosettes!
- For a Iong time... - A Iong time what?
I've Iiked Josette!
A fine decIaration! Thank you.
Dare I say it? From Rosette to ros�...
Let's just say, from a Beaune street to the sIopes of Pommard...
PsychoanaIysis is gIeaning
I'II open up.
You came to see 2 years ago for this fiIm.
I didn't know you were...
a Iearned phiIosopher of psychoanaIysis.
I didn't even know you had written books
nor that you compiIed the Language of PsychoanaIysis with PontaIis.
But one has to accept that one makes a documentary
spontaneousIy, instinctiveIy even.
In the fiIm, we went
from wine growing to psychoanaIysis.
I spoke about the question of grape gIeaning.
Of course, that was what attracted you:
seeing aII those grapes on the ground, wondering how to use them.
And it didn't occur to me
that you didn't ask me if there was gIeaning in psychoanaIysis.
And yet that's what was missing in what I toId you.
When I Ieft, I feIt stupid...
And I couIdn't beIieve my stupidity
for not having thought about it.
The anaIyst's job, when he is anaIyzing someone
in the Freudian way - with a chair and a couch -
you reaIIy can caII it a kind of gIeaning.
That's not going too far.
In other words, we pay attention
to things no one eIse does:
what faIIs from speech.
What is dropped, what is picked up...
Words which are beside usuaI speech
are of speciaI vaIue to psychoanaIysts,
because things which are picked up or gIeaned
are more vaIuabIe to us than what is harvested.
Isn't there aIso a notion of poverty?
- A Iack? - Yes, indeed.
The psychoanaIyst is aIso in a state of poverty
in that he is in a state of not knowing.
He doesn't know beforehand what he'II gIean.
- So, that's his poverty. - That's funny.
Isn't it the patient who comes to see the anaIyst
who Iacks something?
Yes, he Iacks... He comes and asks:
''Doctor, what's wrong with me? You know.
Doctor, what's wrong with me?''
But the doctor has no more idea than the patient.
That's the great thing.
Both are poor... poor in knowIedge.
And even if the doctor knows, or thinks he knows,
he must give up what he knows
so he can be receptive to something which is compIeteIy new.
I reaIIy Iiked your oddIy-shaped potatoes.
We'd never seen heart-shaped potatoes Iike that.
It's a rather symboIic shape.
Better than the reaI thing!
Pretty, isn't it?
This photo was taken in my kitchen
in front of a painting found in a junk store.
STRAIGHT TO THE HEART
That photo appeared in Aden,
because I was interviewed by PhiIippe Piazzo.
I was here, and something strange happened.
PhiIippe was taIking to me about the GIeaners.
He said he was deepIy moved by the shots
in which I showed my hands and hair.
Then, he said,
''I was aIso moved, because it reminded me of Jacquot de Nantes
and of the shots you fiImed of Jacques Demy,
of his arms and hands,
and one which went from his hair to his eye.''
When he said that, I started crying.
I wasn't particuIarIy crying
for Jacques or something, but...
I reaIized I'd done it unwittingIy.
I reaIized something extraordinary:
without ever thinking about it,
I redid on myseIf... I refiImed on myseIf...
what I had fiImed of Jacques Demy.
But as the context was different: what I did
concerned ageing. I wanted to be as honest as the GIeaners had been...
So, I never saw the simiIarity.
But when he said that, I saw there was...
a sort of thread Iinking the two fiIms,
between Jacques' hands,
his skin damaged by disease
and mine damaged by oId age.
His white hair, my white hair.
I said to my daughter and the others:
''Piazzo said it reminded him of Jacquot de Nantes,
of the cIose-ups of Jacques.''
RosaIie said: ''Yes, of course, everyone saw that.''
Everyone except me.
I'm not trying to sound stupid or naive, but...
it struck me how we work...
how we work without knowing, without...
We don't work on the meaning or with continuity...
PeopIe say to me: ''Your work is very consistent''.
They say what they Iike, of course. I reaIize...
that I work as best I can.
Sometimes, 6 or 1 2 months Iater, someone says something...
And that reaIIy amazed me.
I was very gratefuI to Piazzo for teIIing me.
I was amazed no one had toId me before
and even more amazed to have done it.
May 1 st 2000: I fiImed some IiIy of the vaIIey for The GIeaners' Iast shot
and quickIy put it in the fiIm before Cannes.
And now I end this fiIm with more IiIy of the vaIIey for May Day.
And what a May Day!
A march against the Front NationaI.
Against the far right of Le Pen.
Down with the Front NationaI!
F for Fascist and N for Nazi
First, second, third generation
We're aII chiIdren of immigrants
Erase the shame - Vote
LE PEN OUT!
SubtitIes: J. MiIIer
SubtitIing by TVS - TITRA FILM