Crabby old geezer Michel Serrault befriends girl in the French countryside... hang on... isn't that "Le Papillon (2002)"? One does detect a similar demographic here (though Carion's film came first). This is mainly a woman's film so I'm not likely to judge it properly, but I think I know what it was trying to do. It didn't make it. There was a directorial flatness about it, even during the moments that should have been lush. Too many scenes were lank and ineffectual and left us thinking: "well...?". It didn't help that the central challenge - the farm in the mountains which the woman has gone to manage - seemed to only contain a few goats which she led out into the meadows from time to time - hmmm, no herculean task. The humour was too slight and was swamped by a relentless overearnestness; the director couldn't manage to give it any edge and as a result none of it meant much. I'm not at all sure what was the point of the relationship with the old man except to give the film some kind of social arc. More interestingly, the story might be symptomatic of a society that has lost its identity through too much choice, when a single woman who teaches computer skills is not only inspired (a common enough dream) but is fully empowered to buy and manage a huge idyllic farm in the mountains. Some dream.

'Une hirondelle a fait le printemps' ('The Girl from Paris') weaves its French spell in the manner of the great French filmmakers, and yet this 2001 film was the debut of the man - Christian Carion - who later gave us the tremendously well-done 'Joyeux Noël' in 2005. This story (written by both Carion and Eric Assous) is unique, a study of human desires, needs, and compromises that is more human in feeling than most any other film this reviewer has seen.Sandrine Dumez (Mathilde Seigner) lives in Paris where she slaves away at teaching computer science to students in tune with the age. She is attractive, successful, popular...and unhappy. She longs to fulfill the dreams of her childhood and become a farmer. Much against her doting mother's advice she enrolls in a school for agriculture and eventually graduates as one of the top students, winning the ability to buy a farm in the Rhone Alps. The snag: the elderly crusty owner Adrien (Michel Serrault), who wants to sell his farm yet maintain his idyllic country existence without the wear and tear of farming, refuses to move off his own property once the contract is signed for Sandrine to take over the land. Sandrine allows Adrien to stay, makes the farm not only succeed despite her novice status, but also adds a hotel ('The Balcony of the Sky') to enhance her income from her goat farm whose chief product is cheese. Encouraging the transition is the jovial neighbor Jean (Jean-Paul Roussillon) whose recent selling of his own farm allows him to travel around in his new Volvo with his trusty (and hilarious) dog Pharaoh. Jean warns Sandrine that when winter come Adrien will become a recluse (remembering the loss of his wife, the Nazi decimation of the French farms, his losses from mad cow disease in the past, etc), yet Sandrine persists - until the winter comes and all but defeats her optimism. Events bond Adrien and Sandrine more closely, so much so that when Sandrine returns to Paris for a much-needed breather - and liaison with her ex-boyfriend Gérard (Frédéric Pierrot) - Adrien discovers how important to him Sandrine has become. The ending is tied into a surprise that touchingly resolves many doubts and questions and allows the viewer to finish the story on his own! The cast is superb, with special kudos to Michel Serrault, a consummate actor. The cinematography of the glorious farm location is by Antoine Héberlé and the very French musical score is by Philippe Rombi. The film is a delight in every aspect and one that deserves repeated viewings. Grady Harp

I'm sorry I wasted my time and money on this one. The scenes of animal deaths could have been filmed discreetly without the loss of lives. I kept waiting for the cutaways from the scenes and it didn't happen. The filmmaker did them because, obviously, he confuses art with violence. The film would have been just a good without those scenes. But for whatever peculiarity of personality and whim, he felt compelled, or indulged, I should say, in filming animals as they died under human machinations. Now I'm thinking about the hoax the MIT students had going about the bonsai kittens in jars and one other art piece in..Denmark or Sweden... that may or may not have been real, of some idiot taking decapitated mice and stuffing them into other animals and plant parts and bottle tops..It's all death being confused as art is my point ,and this film could have done without it. In all three cases, wacky minds thought it up and called it art. Guys, can't you just go crucify yourselves on your Volkswagens instead? I know it's already been done, but if you have to do something vile, do it to yourself, not to anything--including people-- that are innocent. It's the first rule of S & M games, I am told--do so only with the consent of the participant. You certainly didn't get it from the livestock, now did you?At least in "Hud" the violence was implied: we see a pit dug, we see cows going in it. but then don't see cows only the mooing is heard. next scene is men with rifles shooting into pits. But we don't actually see them killed. Because they aren't.There should have been a warning label on this one, folks. No way would I want young children to be forced to see this--or to accidentally see this. I am aware that in the US disclaimers are made on films pointing out that no animals are harmed. I would say the same is true in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. That certainly is not the case in France I would venture to guess.And no, fellas, not all farms are busy killing off livestock. Some farms are strictly for the plant life. Animal husbandry is one degree (at least here in this country ) and agriculture is another. I guess it's not that way in France. This film should have had a clear warning on it. You know here you can film the ..uh. harvesting of the animals.. either as a documentary or as a snuff film. This guy turned his work into an animal snuff film.I quit eating beef several years ago and had toyed with eating it again. Not after this. I'm going vegetarian. I have actually helped to clean wild game before, not after this film. In fact I will donate money to the cow sanctuaries in PA.I think this film gave me a case of PTS. The animal butchery scenes keep rolling and rolling and rolling in my head.

This is a very nice movie that most English-speaking movie goers will never see. Here in the USA it has the title "Girl From Paris", but the French title translates to "one swallow brought spring." Mathilde Seigner, unknown to me before this movie, plays Sandrine Dumez, a single young lady, approaching 30, and living in Paris. One day while running late because of bad traffic, she decides to follow her dream, to get away from the city and become a farmer. This is her story, and also how her life touched that of an old man who thought he had nothing to live for. She was his 'swallow'. Although it is all in French, the subtitles are easy to read and is not a distraction at all. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.SPOILERS FOLLOW. Sandrine enrolls in a two year school to study farming. She is one of the better students and a hard worker. She finds a farm to buy in a beautiful hilly area somewhere between Paris and Grenoble, probably closer to Grenoble. The old owner had lost his wife some years back, and was just tired of farming, but he didn't look kindly upon "school" farmers, and wasn't very helpful at first. In fact it seemed like he wanted her to fail, even though he had contracted to remain living there for 18 months. But he slowly warmed up to her when he saw how kind she was, and how hard she worked. She converted one building into a hotel and advertised it over the internet as "Balconies in the Sky." She sold her goat cheese over the internet. She worked hard every day. Her business was good.In a key scene during the cold winter, we see him causing a problem with her hotel's electricity, and we assume he is up to no good. But, what he wanted was for her to be near him, so without heat, he invited her to stay with him in the old guest bedroom. A few days later, he fixed the problem. They shared meals and conversation, and they even danced. Not long before, a sour old man, he now had a little joy in his life.After a particularly hard winter, Sandrine had to take a break, went back to Paris, even taught two days of an internet class. She considered whether she should go back, and decided to. The movie ends with her leading the goats back to the barn in the spring.