On the Adamant
Following Être et avoir, Nicolas Philibert delivers a deeply felt portrayal of a psychiatric centre in central Paris.
Although it is twenty years since the French documentary Être et avoir became a huge hit, it seems likely that Nicolas Philibert’s latest film On the Adamant will be described as the latest work from the director of that classic. Those who saw it may assume that this new documentary is just as easy to love, but to approach it with that expectation would be a mistake. Philibert’s career, one that started out in video and television work, quickly established him as a documentarian who, far from being showy, was quietly observant. In keeping with that Être et avoir was a film that refused to ingratiate itself and left it to the audience to come to it. Nevertheless, since that film studied life in a rural French school for pupils aged between four and ten and was centred on an inspiring teacher, most viewers were readily captivated by it.
On the Adamant shows that Philibert’s style and tone remain unchanged, but here there is no readily engaging hook to win over a large audience. Without in any sense imposing himself, Philibert makes films that bear the stamp of his own compassionate humanity and his respect for people in general. But in this case his subject is quite challenging to an audience: it is a portrait of people with mental health problems who benefit from the presence on the Seine in Paris of a barge, the Adamant, which functions as a daycare centre. It has staff who believe profoundly in the psychiatric value to be found in encouraging participation in drawing, photography and music making while providing such additional facilities as a library, a bar and a place to watch films. Group discussions of various kinds feature too and many attendees choose to become regulars adding to the centre’s ability to promote a sense of companionship.
It would appear that Philibert intends this to be the first of a related trilogy of films and his focus in this one is squarely on the people aboard the Adamant with little distinction made between staff and patients. Those involved are of all ages and backgrounds and we become familiar with some who turn out to be recurrent presences in the film. However, there is no commentary and no attempt to incorporate informative footage about the administration or the history of this endeavour which opened in 2010. What adds to the challenge faced by the viewer is the fact that, although lasting some ten minutes short of two hours, On the Adamant has no discernible shape or structure. It's just a series of scenes which invite us to respond to hearing and seeing people with mental issues which manifest themselves in various ways. Some whom we meet recognise their state and hope to overcome it, others simply speak in ways that reveal inescapable obsessions or fantasies; some hear voices within, be it inside their head or belly, while in contrast another is challenged by the noise made by other people that seems to threaten him.
Philibert’s approach is one which, despite the excellence of the film’s colour photography, could in theory be disastrous since it requires the viewer to give themselves over to watching as the film continues to move on from one person to another. Since it is all bits and pieces without progression and since we are observing people who often live in a world of their own, the film could be found boring (indeed, some may conclude that it is). But if Philibert demands patience, just as he did in his unique Nenette (2010) which studied a caged orangutan in a way that became a meditative masterpiece, this new film rewards it because he sees the human individual in each person encountered. Furthermore, he celebrates their artistic endeavours be they expressed through drawing, singing or on occasion in both composing and singing. If the staff view their patients as individuals to be approached with respect, Philibert does so too. Because this is the case one senses that when these people accept being photographed for the film or engage in talk with Philibert what they are experiencing is closely akin to what they gain in their sympathetic rapport with the staff. Even if in real life one tends to stay clear of people exhibiting mental problems (a reaction that stems from feeling out of one’s depth, unsure what to say and therefore uneasy), what this film does for us is to enable us to learn by seeing such people through Philibert’s eyes. At the close a written statement questions how much longer the Adamant will be able to function, but its value is fully captured by what we see in the film. There is no hectoring, no didactic statement. Instead, what is on the screen expresses in its very bones an inherent view of the value of people however fragile they may be, that being what motivates Nicolas Philibert as a filmmaker.
Original title: Sur l'Adamant.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Frédéric Prieur, François Gozlan, Sabine Berlière, Muriel Thouron, Mireille Brémond, Marc Even, Catherine Katz, Guillaume Loiseau, Olivier Velay, Marc Nauciel, Bruno Voillot, Nadya Georgieva.
Dir Nicolas Philibert with Linda De Zitter, Pro Céline Loiseau, Miléna Poylo and Gilles Sacuto, Ph Nicolas Philibert, Ed Nicolas Philibert.
TS Productions/France 3 Cinéma/Longride/Ciné+/France Télévisions/CNC/Les Films du Losange- Curzon.
109 mins. France/Japan. 2022. UK Rel: 3 November 2023. Cert. PG.
