Perhaps unfairly to Steve McQueen's "Shame", I watched it last night after I saw Laurent Hasse's documentary "Le bonheur... Terre promise" (2011), a much simpler and satisfying film that deals with true feelings. Compared to prefabricated and mannered artifacts as "Shame", "Le bonheur... Terre promise" (as well as Théo Court's "Ocaso", Alejandro Fernández Almendras' "Huacho", or Lucrecia Martel's "La niña santa", among others) seems like a pure and magical journey as the camera enters the simpler spaces of gentle souls. Made by Hasse, after he suffered an accident, was in coma for days, returned to life without his sense of smell, and entered a new phase that affected his personal relationship, the documentary is the record of the trip he made on foot during winter, from the Spanish-French border to Dunkerque, in search of answers to his inquiries, in search of a sense to his recovered life. It may sound pretentious or even twee to a few, but in these times of cynicism, everything does! For me the way Hasse exposed himself and his travel was fascinating, an antidote to industrial cinema, even if I should admit that for personal reasons the film got to me emotionally and made me enjoy it more than if I were watching one of those admired action films loaded with special effects. Hasse disconnects us viewers from that, leads us to the basics, to rural spaces ignored by commercial cinema, and shows us voices and faces that have none or little space in the media: farmers, young soldiers, working class couples, French of African ascent, stockbreeders, lonely elders, an ornithologist, a war refugee... I think that Hasse never intended to "impact" with his film, he did not seek after "selling points" for his documentary, and he did not care if his material would not be enjoyed by film lovers and critics, for the main audience he had in mind was (I believe) the people he filmed. The dichotomy country-city, happiness, loneliness, the acceptance of old age, the enthusiasm of a young couple, the simple act of lighting a fire first thing in the morning, even before having a first bite, every intimate moment, every collective action, reveal humanity, without sensationalism. With "Le bonheur... Terre promise" I am once again convinced that films are better perceived and enjoyed when watched alone.