Farming is hard work. I don’t know that those of us who live in the cities and suburbs really appreciate that all the time. The food we buy at grocery stores often ends up there due to many people doing backbreaking labour seven days a week.

We tend to think of farming as a simple life, but in truth, modern farming is anything but. As corporate interests push further and further into the market, they make it harder and harder for farmers to get ahead, all the while profiting off the sweat of the working man’s brow. That might sound like hyperbole, and it is, but it’s also true.

If you still aren’t convinced, In the Name of the Land is here to set you straight. Édouard Bergeon’s generational family drama tells the story of a man struggling to stay afloat as the world changes around him. It is a melancholy tale, with an excellent central performance, and despite being set in France, it feels like it rings true everywhere that corporate interests are involved in farming.

Continue reading “VIFF Review: ‘In the Name of the Land’ is a melancholy tale about life on a modern farm”