RD in Passage Of Free Men 1997 Passage Des Hommes Libres                                 (aka: Aire Libre) Alexandre Von Humboldt is devoting his twilight years to writing about his discoveries when he learns of the death of Aimé Bonpland. The two naturalists haven't seen each other for more than fifty years, since the French doctor's return to South America to complete his collections but above all to study the Indians, half-breeds and peons, among whom he has just passed away. As he looks back on some of the most remarkable incidents of his journey to Venezuela with Bonpland, Humboldt relives the moments that they spent together: their youth, their enthusiasm, their thirst for new scientific and human knowledge and, above all, their amazing quest to find the Casiquaire river, linking the Orinoco to the Amazon... Personal comments : Beyond its historic context, this film is above all the true story of a friendship, the real-life encounter of two worlds. Motivated by the same cause, the love of people and nature, Humboldt and Bonpland, set off to discover the New World and meet Pedro, the school teacher. These men from different worlds, separated by the oceans and their culture, come into contact. They have something in common, beyond the things that they have learnt. They discover each other on the basis of their love of Humanity. The beautiful thing is this common initiation.