The man at the center of The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger is highly regarded as one of England’s most influential writers, art critics and thinkers, a subject most certainly worthy of a film created by some of his dear friends who also happen to be some of the most influential artists and thinkers. For instance his dear friend Tilda Swinton wrote the screenplay for the first segment in the film, a charming short titled Ways of Listening (undoubtedly named after Berger’s seminal essay and BBC cultural miniseries Ways of Seeing) which finds the actress sitting in Berger’s kitchen as they talk about how they bonded over sharing the same birthday, and slowly go into deeper topics. It establishes a voyeuristic feeling that pervades throughout the whole film, which rather than suggesting these people are just like the viewers, or highlighting the differences between the world’s intellectual elite and everyone else, just allows us to take a peek into their unique minds.
Swinton’s presence looms larger over the film, she also directed the closing short Harvest which stars her twins Honor and Xavier who share some time with Berger and at one point present him with the kind of presents you’d give the man who has it all: eggs. There are endless moments along the film that feel like inside jokes, perhaps the artists involved weren’t envisioning a commercially released film, or were just having so much fun working together, and seeing each other, that they just decided to go with it.
In the playful short Spring, by director Christopher Roth, we learn about Berger’s relationship to animals and to Jacques Derrida, by way of how they both perceive the unique bonds between people and animals. This is the short that best tries to encompass Berger’s philosophy, which doesn’t come across much in the three other entries, making this the opposite of an ideal entry point for those unfamiliar with his work. However in terms of its unassuming ambition, and the joy of seeing Tilda Swinton wear many, figurative, hats, The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger remains quite appealing.
