Movies - Lynx : Focus on the numerous animal species in the film

By Mulder, 08 january 2022

Lynx is a French-Swiss documentary film written and directed by Laurent Geslin that will be released on January 9th. It shows the life of a lynx family in the Jura mountains.

Chamois
The screen is white, a few low shadows let us recognize a landscape of immaculate snow seen from the sky. A black dot, an animal seen from above, enters the field and leaves its tracks behind. We do not recognize it immediately. The next shot, horizontally, is a chamois walking with difficulty in thick powder. He starts to run and to make antics then joins his group which scrapes the snow to graze the thin vegetation at the foot of the trees. The landscape is freshly covered with snow and the herd has gathered around a willow
a willow tree completely covered with a heavy white coat. The dominant billy goat comes out of the wood and heads towards the newcomer, he speeds up and pursues him quickly; the group panics a little. Then the tension subsides and the chamois resume their activity while the camera flies over them and goes back to the snowy forest...

Fox
Some details of frosted branches open the scene. A wide shot reveals a snowy landscape with heavily "plastered" fir trees. In the clearing, we recognize, in spite of the distance that separates us, a motionless fox, ears pointed towards the ground. In close-up, the fox listens to a vole moving under the snow cover. The fox plunges its head to emerge with a white mask but an empty mouth. He resumes his path and passes in front of one of his companions sitting on the edge. Turning around, he flattens himself on the ground, whipping his tail as if in appeal. His attitude seems to attract the new fox, who rushes towards him excitedly. The two foxes lie down side by side, muzzles stretched towards each other. Then the first one gets up and resumes his hunting. It is the period of the loves in the foxes. The two animals will meet again...

Weasel
In a misty and still snowy beech forest, the morning light is beautiful and the undergrowth is calm. The camera glides gently up and down and we discover an immaculate undergrowth. Suddenly at the foot of a tree, a small head appears quickly. In close-up, we recognize the weasel. Elusive, it disappears in a flash to appear again almost at the same time under a stump. The animal is nervous and does not stop for a few seconds. It disappears again then nothing more... a wider shot shows us the snowy forest and in the distance, a small head pierces the snowy carpet one last time to disappear for good.

Great horned owl
It is the end of the winter, we hear at nightfall a short and deaf song. It is the great horned owl that we see in silhouette in the naked and intermingled branches of a tree. We see him inflate his chest to call his female. Suddenly, he stands up and the female lands on the same branch. The male takes flight and it is the female who takes over the nightly song. The skit announces the beginning of the mating season for many species in the region.

Black Woodpecker
A short timelapse of a nocturnal undergrowth, scrolls the stars. The shot clears to give way to the morning light. Against the light, the landscape of a few dead trees resounds with a strange drumming... along a trunk, we recognize a black woodpecker that taps with its beak the bark of a dried spruce. The noise attracts a female and the couple engages in a funny dance, tense blows and sharp cries. After having surveyed the trunk several times, the female flies away followed by her suitor.

Cavity birds
Spring is now well established, a wren is singing in the first rays of the sun. A wide shot slightly descending reveals an old preserved forest. Along a dead tree, a small cavity. A round head comes out of it, the beak loaded with waste. It is the little owl preparing its nest. Further on, a creeper comes to rest with some insects in its beak on the peeled bark of a big stump. From a thin slit in the trunk, its young comes out and begs for its food. Like a butterfly the adult flies away. The young returns to take refuge in the crevices of the old tree. On a big beech, we find our couple of black woodpeckers. The male announces himself at the entrance of the lodge to take his turn at brooding. The female takes her time, but appears finally at the entrance of the cavity. She flies away to feed while the male returns head first to take care of his eggs. In the tengmalm's owls, the dwelling is on two levels. A close-up on a chick which takes its head out of the cavity, the camera goes up slowly along the tree to discover its brother or its sister which yawns at the exit of another hole... In a fir tree however rather fine, a snout leaves a lodge probably dug by a woodpecker. The truffle sniffs the air. A marten comes out of the cavity and climbs along the trunk. The mother marten relieves herself at the end of a branch while one of the little ones calls her at the bottom of the nest. Without wasting time, the female goes down head first along the fir tree to join her offspring. Under the humidity of the mossy forest, calls of youngsters can be heard at the bottom of a lodge. A pair of spotted woodpeckers take turns feeding their offspring.

Grouse
On willow branches, buds turn into catkins attracting birds to feed on them. A pair of bullfinches peck while further away a jay feasts. Next to the jay a bird almost motionless and difficult to distinguish. A male grouse also feeds on willow kittens. He jumps from branch to branch then stops. He launches a high-pitched whistle to mark his territory. The small hen very discreetly flies away in the forest cover.

Grouse in the nest
After a few shots of a sparse undergrowth with green buds, the camera stops on a grove of young beech trees. The shot is quite long, but the eye is not attracted by anything in particular. However, if we look closely, a bird is nestled at the foot of the trunk. In close-up, we can clearly see a bird, which looks like a very mimetic hen, it is very difficult to discern on the ground littered with dead leaves. It is the female grouse. She has been incubating her eggs for more than 20 days. After a few moments, the bird which had fallen asleep straightens up and its eye is rounded as surprised. She seems uncomfortable, not finding a comfortable position anymore. Suddenly the head of a very young chick comes out then a second one... In total five small balls of down are brightened up surprised to see the day. 

Woodcock
Like a piece of bark moving through the leaves, a woodcock is followed by its young brood. The chicks join her near a large root. A latecomer staggers on the branches under the worried glance of his mother. He finally finds her and snuggles up to her.

Peregrine Falcon
Illuminated by a low morning light, the drone goes slowly along a large rock bar. High-pitched cries can be heard in the distance. On a rocky peak, a young peregrine falcon seems to be impatient. Its sister already appreciably bigger comes to land just beside him. Staring at a point in the sky, they start to scream when they see the male bringing back a prey in his talons. The youngsters rush and the adult leaves the prey and flies away. The two youngsters then engage in an interminable battle to recover the piece of meat. The female, stronger, takes the booty and flies away, leaving the young male all disappointed.

Fox cub
At the foot of a large tree, a red head emerges from the entrance of a burrow. A fox cub only a few weeks old. A second one is quickly followed by a third one and another one... in total 7 fox cubs are having fun and jumping in the undergrowth running after each other or jumping on pieces of moss as if they were potential preys. But the games stop suddenly when the female approaches. The youngsters rush under her and they suckle at all costs. A latecomer has a hard time finding his place and pushes as he can his brothers and sisters to get his share. The vixen, irritated by this rush, loses patience and disappears into the bushes and disappears into the bushes, leaving her offspring hungry...

Wild cat/rabbit
On a flowery meadow of the beginning of summer, a hare nibbles a yellow hyacinth. When, behind the high grass, the gaze of a forest cat freezes on the lagomorph... As if hypnotized, the feline approaches with velvet steps between the grasses. But the brown hare stops and crouches down. The cat takes a few more steps when the hare jumps and disappears at high speed. The little predator, straightening up but without losing its grace, moves away to chase smaller rodents easier to catch...

Crows and deer
As we fly over the fir tree tops bathed in a thick fog, we can hear the big crows frolicking. These majestic birds draw splendid curves in the sky, intertwining in a repeated choreography... It is autumn and the fog has settled over the whole valley. The flight over the canopy continues and
the silence settles. But in a light breeze, a powerful cry resounds in the heart of the forest... It is the bellowing of the stag. We can't see the animals because the fog is so thick, but the sounds surround us, each one more powerful than the other... Finally, we guess a silhouette on one of the dry meadows and we discover a herd valiantly guarded by a big well-coiffed male. The day pointing the end of its nose, the ungulates return in the undergrowth. The male stays a little longer on his bellowing place and ends up following his hinds...

Chamois rut
At the foot of a young holm oak, a woodcock is standing still. Impassive, she relies on her mimetic plumage for her security. Suddenly she straightens up, a chamois in rut rises right towards her. She flattens herself and the goat passes right behind her without seeing her. By following the chamois which joins its herd, one realizes that the goats are very active. The males push funny bleats coming out a purplish tongue to all the adult goats... some young chamois try to play a still harmless joust when one of them hits the ground with his hooves. Everybody looks in the same direction. Behind a dense bush, one guesses the spotted coat of a lynx. This one was about to launch its attack but unmasked, it withdraws flat on its back into the undergrowth.

Synopsis: 
In the heart of the Jura mountains, a strange call resounds at the end of winter. The superb silhouette of a boreal lynx slips through the beech and fir trees. He calls his female. By following the life of this couple and their kittens, we discover a world that is close to us and yet unknown... An authentic story in which chamois, eagles, foxes and ermines are the witnesses of the secret life of the biggest feline of Europe which remains threatened... A film to discover the essential role that this discreet predator occupies in our forests, the balance that it has restored in a fragile environment but also the difficulties it encounters in a landscape largely occupied by humans.

Lynx
Written and directed by Laurent Geslin
Produced by Jean Pierre Bailly, Stéphane Millière 
Music: Armand Amar, Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen
Cinematography : Laurent Geslin
Editing : Laurence Buchmann
Production companies: MC4 productions, Radio télévision Suisse (RTS), Jmh & Filo films
Distributed by Gebeka films (France)
Release date: January 19, 2022 (France)
Running time: 84 minutes