Le Géant de Pont

In Pont-sur-Sambre, a small village in the north of France, 200 kilometres from Paris, the traditional procession of the third Thursday in Lent is an annual event. In 1993, the one hundred and fourth procession was a particularly important occasion as it saw the baptizing of Jean-Jean, the emblematic figure of the village farmer. But… one giant can hide another and, by the end of the film, it is not so much Jean-Jean as the village mayor who commands our attention. The former might well be tall, but the latter is a sufficiently colourful person to be a match for him, for some time to come. We could not wish this astonishingly energetic and larger-than-life, seventy-year-old man anything better. Through his portrayal, the village community is also brought to life as the film progresses.” (Christian Deloeil)