The Truffle Hunters (Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, 2020) (Patreon)

Given the evident mastery behind this documentary, it's strange that I feel so ambivalent about it. But this is a case of a film doing exactly what it's supposed to do, without being particularly revelatory or surprising. The Truffle Hunters could be a TV episode from a series that details the existential toll that global neoliberalism takes on people in various subcultures and interest groups. (Proposed title: They're Destroying Our Way of Life!) For the international homogenization of wine, there's Jonathan Nossiter's Mondovino. For the shunting away of the elderly as an extreme model of the destruction of community, there's The Mole Agent. For the fetishization of outmoded technology as an avatar of a more humanistic era, there's California Typewriter. Etc.

This may seem slightly unfair, since documentarians are charged with reflecting lived reality, and if we all seem to be falling victim to the same ills -- capitalism and time, essentially -- one is bound to notice a sameness in critical approach. The Truffle Hunters profiles a group of Italian trufflers who uproot precious 'shrooms in the countryside with the help of loyal dogs with trained sniffers. We see from the age of the hunters that this is a dying practice, and some of the men involved seem intent on hastening its demise. They won't pass on secrets, or they retire out of disgust. And why not? There are rich restaurateurs and auction houses haggling to plunder their mycological booty. Meanwhile, unseen poachers lay out poison in order to kill the men's beloved canine companions.

So if The Truffle Hunters amounts to little more than a picturesque riff on Grumpy Old Men, it's probably nobody's fault, least of all the huntsmen. They have spent a lifetime honing a skill, only to see their adventure increasingly dominated by market forces. Dweck and Kershaw don't dwell on the class distinctions between those who unearth the prized fungi and those who consume them. But it's painfully obvious, and these proud artisans are understandably reluctant to play the game. Best to feed the hucksters shit and keep them in the dark.