Small wolves grow. Bertrand’s Road Movie in the mountains that tells the birth of the new herds

They say they are dangerous for people. That their raids are decimating the animals of farms. And that they are even responsible for the disappearance of wild species. «In the territory of the wolves, however, the game abounds and the balance is preserved – he comments Jean-Michel BertrandFrench director and documentary maker who from Monday 16 returns to Italian theaters with On the march with the wolveshis new film, the result of three years of filming on the Alps and on the juror chain -. They go to their survival: no game, no food ». In other words, nature always stands on a balance and are always the species at the top of the food chain that have the task of regulating it. It happens in the mountains with wolves, but also in the savannah with lions or oceans with sharks.

It is not the first time that Bertrand has dealt with these majestic predators. Already in 2017 he had told his wild life in The Vallée des Loupswhich was welcomed very well by criticism and the public. And it is singular that the new film arrives in Italy a few days after Conclusion of the Eter EU for the downgrading of the level of protection of the wolfwhich after having been « strictly protected » for a long time now passes to a simple protection status. Which in fact means The possibility for local authorities to adopt containment plans In the presence of even non -emergency conditions but, for example, only on the basis of attacks on income animals.

While on a political level the debate around this issue is on – now that the EU has approved the declassing is to the various Member States to decide whether to adopt in turn a less restrictive policy in a national key or whether to keep the current protection levels -, Bertrand’s images They tell the life of the herds as if the camera was in the eyes of the animals themselves. He followed them for a long time on the mountain routes. And he observed and loved them, even before capturing his soul.

The journey he made is a sort of Road-Movie between wild valleys and urbanized areas of the Alpswhich ends in an isolated hut in the forest of the massif of Swearon the border with Switzerland. Months and months of stalking and traces to follow, shooting with the telephoto lens and positioning of phototrappole, to study and document the behavior of the wolves and, in particular, The moment when young people no longer have to face adult lifeabandoning the native territory to travel its own way, Look for a partner and give life to a new pack or become part of one in the Constitution.

It is so, moreover, that the wolf has returned to the mountains and woods throughout Europe. It is not true that there has been reintroducedas a vulgate claims, fueled especially by those who would like to return to eliminate it as it had already done in the past. The wolf, which has never completely disappeared, especially in some areas such as Central Italy, has actually taken advantage of the empty left by the human being Which has increasingly abandoned the high lands, except those colonized with resorts and ski resorts, leaving them at the mercy of nature. That his own space has recovered: more vegetation means a greater number of herbivores; A greater number of herbivores means abundance of prey for those who feed themselves, the carnivorous predators. That in this way they return to proliferate. Today it is estimated that in Europe there are about 21 thousand wolves, 3,300 only in Italy.

But this is not so much a film about the relationship between the wolf and the man, who is also evoked, but above all on that between the wolf and his other fellow men. On the trail of the Solital and nomad specimensBertrand shows how the packs cross hostile environments already occupied by other wolves that are anything but willing to welcome them. But also anthropized territories, where human beings have intervened on the environment have changed their habits in many years without howls. And where the passage for animals is even more risky. « But who really invades the other territory?The director wonders during the narrative, built with images that he often collected solo, other times with a very small troupe, so that the human presence was reduced to the indispensable and did not interfere with the normal life of the animals. While perceiving their presence, they finally tolerated Bertrand, who entered with them in a sort of symbiosis, but always at the right distance.

«I was able to meet the eyes of the legendary predator – says the director – and even see the puppies grow. But at a certain point I knew that the hunted animal never lowers the guard and at the end of three extraordinary years I decided not to disturb them further ». A suffered but necessary choice. « The wolves made me grow – Bertrand still underlines – And now I realize that the incredible adventure that I have been able to live by their side is not a culmination or an end, but a beginning. The beginning of a path, of a questioning, of a naturalistic and philosophical research that will bring me even closer to the mysteries of the wild world ».

The film, distributed by Wanted and with the patronage of the Italian Alpine Club, will be in theaters Until June 18th.