Winter has lasted 80,000 years.
A blanket of ice covers the continent.
In such hostile conditions,
animals resist the freezing cold.
Over this great expanse,
traces Of man are SCGFCG.
Just a few stacks of stones.
And the interminable winter comes to an end.
Imperceptibly, the earth tilts slightly, allowing itself a little more sun.
A few more degrees
and radical changes occur.
Entire cliffs collapse,
crashing into the ocean,
revealing the outline of the European coast.
Animals from the Ice Age
begin their long journey toward the Arctic Circle.
12,000 years ago,
the ground thaws.
Springs gush forth.
New life begins.
Trees embark on a conquest of the continent.
In just a few hundred years, Europe is submerged
under a sea of greenery.
And so begins the golden age of the forest.
And so begin the seasons.
SEASONS
The forest is inhabited by animals,
men and divinities.
For thousands of years,
nothing changes.
Days and nights revolve to the rhythm of the seasons.
Under the perpetual canopy of stars,
life unfolds with each passing season
as the years go by.
Thousands of years have gone by
and apparently nothing has changed.
A new era...
Wolves disappear into the forest.
The hunter-gatherers disappear
without leaving a trace.
The golden age of the forest
is over.
The forest shrinks,
pushed back by fields.
Large wild animals leave, abandoning their territory.
A whole world disappears.
Landscapes are transformed.
The countryside is born.
New plants replace forest trees.
A new environment...
new opportunities...
Forests gradually thin out.
It becomes difficult to find refuge.
Springs continue to gush forth...
but time is running out for the deep forest.
The forest is pruned for hunting.
3,000 oaks are barely enough to build just one ship for the royal fleet.
The forest cannot keep up this contribution.
In this new world,
there is no place for wolves.
Stalked, hunted,
they endure a merciless war.
As of now,
animals are declared either useful or pests.
Or they bring bad luck.
As their territory diminishes,
big wild animals seek refuge
in the most inaccessible regions.
Mountains are still wild.
In the plains, the countryside
is a blessing for many animals,
providing new space for freedom.
Where bison and wild horses once galloped,
bees and butterflies gather pollen.
The duration of a birdsong
is sometimes silenced by war.
Chemical weapons have found a new function.
Man has become a climatological force.
He modifies nature
and the seasons.
What is left of the forest's golden age?
10,000 years ago,
this was an expanse of forest, inhabited by wild animals.
If we are capable of building eternal cities,
we should be able to preserve
the nature in our world.
What consideration do we have for our fellow creatures of the planet?
Threatened and attacked from every angle,
nature has not yet given up.
It's not too late.
It's resisting...
At the dawn of this new century,
a new alliance between man and nature is still possible...
NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS FILM