THE “WORLD’S” OPINION – MUST SEE
If the “yellow vests” gave rise to a succession of documentaries released during the emergence of the movement (I want sun !by François Ruffin, 2019) or filmed at the peak of mobilization (A peopleby Emmanuel Gras, 2021), The Yellow Lanesby Sylvestre Meinzer, chooses the party of the aftermath, five years after the first demonstrations which spread throughout France.
On still shots captured throughout the country (landscapes, former gathering places and workplaces of former “yellow vests”), the trained ethnographer affixes the testimony of people reflecting on what prompted them to join the movement which began in October 2018.
The judicious idea of the film consists of decoupling image and sound and avoiding the automatism of testimony in front of the camera, which often adds nothing and weighs down many documentaries. The Yellow Lanes also avoids the pitfall which consists, for a political and politicized documentary, of doing without a reflection on the form on the pretext that only the content prevails. The bringing together of these stories of political anger and these peaceful images contributes in particular to giving the impression of a forced return to calm – the anger remains intact, as if waiting to resurface one day. But the film gradually shows its weakness: over an hour and forty hours, the formal system cannot avoid a certain monotony.
French documentary by Sylvestre Meinzer (1h41).