A veterinarian in Burgundy.
The rural veterinarians they are heroes. So simple and clear says the director julie manukian in her movie A veterinarian in Burgundy .“They are people who give their lives to the service of others. They work in difficult conditions, with crazy hours, and they receive salaries that do not correspond to the enormous effort they have had to make to get their diploma since it is one of the most difficult careers, ”she explains.
The director herself was unaware of the world and the lives of these heroes before she commissioned the film, but once she got down to business she discovered a guild sacrificed, fundamental and in danger of extinction. "A rural veterinarian must know how to treat practically all animals, domestic or not, companion or wild, without forgetting the exotic species. She must be available day and night, both to attend deliveries and for other emergencies. In addition to helping to be born, they also bear the exorbitant responsibility of the right to euthanasia that their patients have, ”she explains.
Dog love.
Or as one of the protagonists of A Veterinarian in Burgundy says: “It is not easy, nor prestigious, nor is it well paid. We heal their companions, their livelihood, the children they have not had and the couples they have lost. Without them, the rural world would be emptied a little more.
But there are less and less. It is a reality that uses the film as a premise. Nico (Clovis Cornillac) he is the only veterinarian in a rural region, with farms and cattle, that covers 40 kilometers in all directions. And the film starts with the arrival of what, at last, could be his work partner, taking care of pets in the clinic and attending births on farms. But this companion Alex (Noemie Schmidt) she is “a Parisian unprepared for the rural world”. Recently graduated as a veterinarian, she saw prestige in the laboratory, not in dealing directly with animals.
Alex is a veterinarian in Burgundy.
To this conflict, Manoukian adds others. The distrust of the people towards Alex. First, because she is a female veterinarian. Where has this been seen? Say the residents of the small town of Mhère, in the Morvan region. Well, they'll have to get used to it, she answers. “80% of veterinary students are women. Since you earn more, men study business.”
And then, that idea of the “village tourist”, of being a stranger if you only go there in the summers. Despite shooting it pre-pandemic, the reflection of A Veterinara in Burgundy today is more relevant than ever: the need to return to the village. The return to those places that are worthwhile and made us happy, but that in the whirlwind of accelerated, routine and urban life we forgot. That happens to Alex going back to that little town and forest where she grew up and she spent all her summers. They still see her as a tourist, but she knows how to play table football and bears the hard pomace like any of her countrymen.
Morvan, places worth returning to.
THE EMPTINED FRANCE
Manoukian and his team fell a bit by chance in the Morvan, a region famous for its natural park, in the heart of Burgundy, near Dijon. They planned to shoot in the Jura, but it was too far from the farm that provided them with the leading animals. It was thanks to the Michelin guide, a classic, that they found the perfect town for history: Mhere. “Its square and its town hall resembled a western setting”, Manoukian says. “Exactly what I was looking for. For shooting in scope, it was ideal. Afterwards, we toured the area and I discovered the region I had dreamed of, all full of green and water”.
Rural hitchhiker.
“It is a beautiful region, one of the least populated in France”, says Clovis Cornillac, who was well known in the area. "Its nature is sublime, its valleys very gentle, but, paradoxically, everyday life is hard. Its climate is continental. The winters are usually very cold and the summers suffocating. The inhabitants are welcoming, adorable and also very strong, because it takes a lot of strength to live there.” The farms and towns are separated by kilometers and there are fewer and fewer people willing to make such sacrifices. “To stay there, you have to love solitude”, the interpreter insists. It was good for him and the rest of the actors to breathe that air (they stayed in a campsite in front of a lake during filming) to convey the needs of regions like this on the screen.
A veterinary in Burgundy is shot in the Morvan.