L'Apprenti (The Apprentice) (2008)

Mathieu Bulle, Paul Barbier

A young man learns lessons about life, hard work and much more when he leaves home for the first time in this documentary from filmmaker Samuel Collarday. Mathieu Bulle is fifteen years old and like m... read more any in their early teens, he's having a hard time adjusting to the new responsibilities of life as an adult, showing a sullen and rebellious streak. Mathieu's parents are divorced, and living with his mother he misses having a strong male role model around the house; Mathieu has an interest in agriculture, so his mother arranges for him to spend a year working as an apprentice for Paul Barbier, a farmer who raises cattle and pigs in rural France. While Paul gives Mathieu a hands-on education in farming, he also serves as a mentor to the youngster, passing along life lessons about being the man of the household and coming to terms with life's cycles. While Mathieu thrives under Paul's guidance, the emotional distance between him and his mother only grows while he's away. L'Apprenti (aka The Apprentice) received the Critics' Week prize at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi