ABSTRACT
One could almost say that the value of Farrebique is less aesthetic than moral. In order to bring this venture to a good conclusion, Rouquier needed more than the mere courage to undertake it: he had to use all his willpower in order to remain true to his initial intention. Farrebique is an ascetic enterprise whose purpose is to deprive reality of all that has noth ing to do with it, especially the parasitism of art. More imagination and perseverance than one generally suspects were needed to discover the rules of the game and to stick to them without flinching. The risk was worthwhile, but some will say (or, alas, have already written!) that Rouquier really shouldn’t have taken so much trouble if it was just to go back to the starting point. “For one-and-a-half hours I saw cows defecate, peasants eat, rain fall, mud stick to clogs.. . , ” M. Jean Fayard writes. According to M. Jean Fayard, events of so little significance are unwor thy in themselves of appearing in a cinematic work. M. Jean Fayard thinks that it would be simpler just to go to the countryside or, generally speak ing, that he needn’t go to the movies to see things as they are.
