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May 13, 2009
« Les camisards » : who cares if it’s all true ? (2/9)
« Les camisards » apparently received their name from the shirt -« chemise »- they wore over their clothes, but called themselves « les frères » -brothers- or « les enfants de Dieu » -God’s children-.
They were mostly peasants or rural workers in the local wool industry. Very few belonged to « bourgeoisie » and none to the aristocracy : their leaders had therefore no military training, but their bands were reinforced by professional soldiers who had deserted their regiments.
« Les camisards » were organised in small independent troops, around a core of full time fighters supplemented with occasional ones. They staged a « guerilla » warfare, which benefited from popular support.
Their loose organisation and intimate knowledge of their fighting grounds initially enabled them to hold in check the royal troops sent to destroy them.
Historic accounts of the « camisards » war confirm the film is a faithful depiction of the revolt : where it took place, why, who the « camisards » were, how they dressed, fought, escaped their pursuers.
Though the film does not focus on the movement leaders, they are there : Gédéon Laporte, Jean Cavalier, Abraham Mazel, portrayed on screen as the « prophets » they were, who led the war under the divine guidance of their « visions ».
The film is partly narrated in voice over by a character called Jacques Combassous, who may have been inspired by another true « camisard », Jacques Bonbonnoux, whose diary gave a detailed insider’s account of the revolt.
Nicolas Philibert’s « Etre et avoir », Laurent Cantet’s « Entre les murs », Jean Rouch’s « Moi, un noir », René Allio’s « Les camisards » : all films belong in a similar trend, all share a common thread, as they experiment around « docu-drama », combine various layers of reality and fiction, try different roads towards a filmed reality able to show beyond the anecdote.
« Les camisards »’s cast is made of professional actors -though backed up, like the « camisards » themselves, by locals from the villages where the film was shot-, as the film factual accuracy is a means to an end : a way of access to a deeper understanding of the movement.
« Les camisards » is faithful to History and accurate, but why should we care ? As we watch the movie, unless we are already familiar with the events on screen, we have no way to know it is truthful to what really happened.
We can only testify to a « feeling » : what we see on screen looks credible and likely enough to convince us it is « real ». From a cinema perspective, nothing else matters.
08:05 Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Comments
Hi,
I for one care a lot that the 'war' be depicted as it really was. I don't want to see a 'Holywoodisation' of what happened.
There are people who live in Cevennes that talk about the conflict as if it were yesterday; and I'm told that even up to 50 years ago, if you were in distress in the area, the first thing a stranger would ask you about was your religion.
For those who are keen to re-visit the places where the action occurred, see:
http://www.enlightened-traveller.co.uk/pages/Package_Pages.aspx?pkId=c198536c-7841-433a-ad41-5ef6261c1e73&pgId=1001
Salut, et vive le cinema français!
Posted by: Steve Turner | May 13, 2009