Pays de cocagne

Etaix's fifth and last feature is a documentary. In the summer of 1968, Etaix took his camera across France to interview a variety of people. With thousands of hours of footage, he creates a document of the times, juxtaposing the images he caught with the interviews he recorded. More often than not, the interviews have nothing specifically to do with the images, but instead serve as humorous content on them. This is more than a bit unfocused and it probably would have worked better as a short. It's only 76 minutes long, but it feels a lot longer. Still, there's a lot of value here, and the images themselves are excellent. It's definitely Etaix's least substantial and interesting picture (the most notable element is the little comic sketch Etaix does right at the beginning), but it's worth a look.

To be perfectly honest, I just don't know what Pierre Étaix was doing here. I've watched the other films he directed and dearly, unreservedly loved them all; with this, I'm at a loss. We could take the feature at face value as a snapshot of French society in the wake of May 1968, but no matter one's frame of reference or perspective that seems foolhardy. More true is that there's an undeniably underhanded cheek in how Étaix approached this project, cloaking a winking but meaningful slice of commentary. This is discernible even just in Michel Lewin's editing, Georges Lendi's cinematography, and the otherwise construction of the picture, let alone in the questions posed to interviewees and the catalogue of their responses. Yet the topics broached seem to me to be much too scattered to possibly provide an earnest, coherent view on contemporary society, let alone to achieve some sly, clandestine purpose. As far as I'm concerned 'Land of milk and honey,' or 'Pays de cocagne,' comes across as nothing more than a bucket of marbles thrust across a smooth floor, a smattering of would-be substance with no rhyme or reason.

I glimpse at what others have written about the film, what they extracted from Étaix's movie, and I'm delighted at the prospect of what their words represent. I simply don't see the same thing that other folks have. Am I missing something? Was I just not in the right headspace? Was Étaix operating on a totally different wavelength in this one instance? I don't know what the answer is. I just know that I sat to watch this anticipating a showcase of wily, subversive impudence characterized by the same unfailing wit with which the man approached his straightforward comedy, and my expectations weren't met. Again, I'm rather at a loss. Étaix unquestionably remains a direly underappreciated comedic genius, but to watch 'Land of milk and honey,' I think I understand after all why it had such a poor reception upon release; whatever it is that was intended here, I'm among those who just don't grasp it. I'm glad for those who do Get It after all, and count the documentary among the legend's few but precious treasures. I'm of the mind that one should approach this warily and cautiously, with the recognition that one way or another it's a far cry from the material that Étaix did best and for which he should be honored.