Plot introduction
冬天，蒂妲絲雲頓拜訪落腳於法國小山村四十餘年的好友約翰伯格，兩人漫步於靄靄白雪的村莊、或深或淺地，在小屋中聊起童年記憶與歷史承接。春天，透過凝視動物，經歷一場人類與動物關係的思辨。夏天，於山村中和三兩藝術家漫談當代政治，佐以舊時影片、音樂，探索藝術如何述說政治。秋天，蒂妲再度帶著孩子拜訪約翰以及約翰之子，在視野遼闊的山村生活中，發現傳承的意念存在於所觀看的每一片風景。
四部短片象徵四季的更迭，而山村的風景、動物、生活則是年復一年的循環，體現約翰口中「無窮延伸的此時此刻」。他的思想及人生觀與古老的農舍、青翠的綠地、放牧的牛群相呼相應，說著這個世界周遭人物景物的故事，阿爾卑斯山裡的小村莊，則是最迷人的舞台。
（以上來自2016台北金馬影展）
The Seasons in Quincy is a feature-length documentary film in four parts by the Derek Jarman Lab at Birkbeck, in collaboration with Til da Swinton, Christopher Roth and Colin MacCabe. Together, the parts constitute a film portrait of John Berger, the British writer and thinker.
In 1973 Berger abandoned the metropolis to live in the tiny Alpine village of Quincy. He realized that subsistence peasant farming, which had sustained humanity for millennia, was drawing to an historical close. He determined to spend the rest of his life bearing witness to this vanishing existence, not least by participating in it. Berger’s trilogy Into their Labours chronicles the peasant life of this Alpine village and its surrounding countryside. Our portrait places Berger in the rhythm of the seasons in Quincy.
The four parts of the film each address different strands of Berger's life and work. The first, Ways of Listening, directed by Colin MacCabe, deals with fathers and friendship. Spring, directed by Christopher Roth, considers Berger's writing on our relationship with animals in juxtaposition with the animals that surround him in the Haute Savoie. A Song for Politics, directed by Colin MacCabe and Bartek Dziadosz, reflects on politics through a conversation between Berger, Colin MacCabe, Ben Lerner, Akshi Singh and Christopher Roth. The last part, Harvest, directed by Tilda Swinton, revisits Quincy to meditate on belonging and continuity with John and his son Yves.
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