‘The Fifth Season’ – When Spring Never Comes
Once again I unexpectedly ran into a film that rose far beyond my expectations. This time it was The Fifth Season (La Cinquième Saison) from 2012, made by the Belgian filmmakers Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth. This film brought back strong memories of Béla Tarr’s film The Turin Horse, maybe so far experienced as the greatest and most shocking ‘end of the world’ films.
I want to bring this film to your attention, because I am afraid that it it is one of those that may stay left in obscurity and I feel this film deserves so much more! It also has echoes of Bergman, Tarkovski and Von Trier’s Melancholia. The Fifth Season is a haunting film, located in a small Belgian village, dealing with ecological disaster, in which two young people try to make sense of a world collapsing around them.
When nature turns its back on people and winter refuses to make place for spring, when nothing grows anymore and the animals die, things also happen to people, families and communities. When life and nature get out of balance, what happens to people? Do they become more caring? Do they become cruel and violent? What is the human toll when the environment collapses? Definitely an issue to reflect about in our time as we are confronted with climate change and environmental threats!
The Fifth Season is a terrific example of images as narrative. Pictures placed together that speak a disturbing story of threat and dehumanisation. Not much needs to be said nor explained. The pictures are stunning and speak their own language. There are stills that remind of Brueghel and Bosch paintings. Many times I wanted to use the pause button to stay with the image and let it do its work in my soul. Beautiful and frightening, wonderful and alien at the same time, this film may quietly lead you to a new level of looking, reflecing and understanding!
Rinus, Oct 2019
*Image & trailer posted for non commercial purposes
under 'fair use' of copyright material in recommendation of the film
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Once again Rinus – your enthusiasm for a film draws me in and makes me interested to see it. Thank you for taking the time to share and describe your observations
It’s on my list!
“Beautiful and frightening, wonderful and alien at the same time, this film may quietly lead you to a new level of looking, reflecting and understanding!” This is a great line to end with for a movie filled with these sorts of contradictions. I felt a bit lost when I watched it the first time, not sure what was happening; sort of like the taste of a smoky whiskey. Thanks to your insights I feel better primed to watch it for a second time.
I liked the artistry of this film – I liked it stylistically with its limited dialogue and the cinematography of long shots that act as stills.
The subject was thought provoking. We take for granted that the seasons will change and that nature will do its thing but this film made me reflect on how we don’t see and value what goes on. What if the bees don’t pollinate, what if the seeds don’t germinate, what if the trees do not bud. It made me more observant and aware to notice the little things of the natural world and our inability as people (despite great advances of understanding and technology) to fundamentally be able to affect things like a seed germinating or not if it refuses to itself.