Is it his stature as a member of the Comédie-Française?
This haughty carriage of the head on the body of Mr. All-the-World, this uprightness, which allow Laurent Stocker to embody the political function so well?
He is Guillaume Delpierre, Minister of Agriculture engaged in a merciless fight against lobbyists in
Games of Influence
,
and will soon be President of the Republic concerned about his image in
Under Control
, a parody of Erwan Le Duc (both on Art).
It is also through laughter that Jean-Pascal Zadi enters the Élysée.
In
En place
, a Netflix series available on January 20, the actor and director plays a suburban educator propelled as the first head of the black state following a combination of circumstances.
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The workings of power
The thriller and humor remain in France the two means of approaching political life.
Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe promises to bring the two genres together in the series adaptation of the novel
Dans l'ombre
, which he co-wrote in 2011 with his faithful friend MEP Gilles Boyer.
The filming for France Télévisions of what the former host of Matignon calls both a “thriller” and a “corrosive comedy” must begin in the spring.
But, unlike the Anglo-Saxon countries, which have long and often immediately questioned the functioning of power via fiction, France is still cautious.
ThisEngland
(Canal+), the series retracing the action of Boris Johnson and filmed shortly after his departure from 10 Downing Street, does not yet have an equivalent in France.
For a very long time there has been a kind of sacralization of political life.
The authors of fiction did not necessarily feel authorized or legitimate to mention it
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
“
For a very long time there was a kind of sacralization of political life.
The authors of fiction did not necessarily feel authorized or legitimate to mention it.
But also the producers, the chains had a form of timidity, contrary to the Anglo-Saxon countries where there has been a well-established tradition for fifty years.
Journalism is experiencing the same phenomenon.
I am thinking of the Mazarine affair.
We know, but we don't talk about it
, ”analyzes Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
The creator of
Influence Games
adds:
“There has been a very strong change due, in particular, to the way of exercising power.
Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron are much more direct, breaking with the previous generation
.
»
Benoît Poelvoorde
(right)
portrays a modern left-wing presidential candidate in
En place
, on Netflix, with his young adviser (Panayotis Pascot).
What's Up Movies
Éric Benzekri, creator of
Baron noir
(on myCanal), also explains this impression of caution, in any case of discrepancy, vis-à-vis the political reality by the imperatives of production and a higher latency time in France than across the Channel or in the United States, whether it's signing a project for a channel or writing deadlines which, fortunately, are being reduced.
In addition to a few television films dealing with the Elf affair (
Les Prédateurs,
2007) or the suicide of Pierre Bérégovoy (
A man of honor
, 2009), cinema was the first to confront politics with
La Conquête
(2011 ), by Xavier Durringer,
Quai d'Orsay
(2013), by Bertrand Tavernier,
Alice and the Mayor
(2019), by Nicolas Pariser.
Series followed.
And, as for
L'Exercice de l'Etat
(2011), by Pierre Schoeller, which rigorously depicts the daily life of a Minister of Transport (Olivier Gourmet), they have often made the choice of realism and authenticity. .
“
Fiction always goes a little less far than reality.
She is required to forbid herself at the risk of being taken for something totally ridiculous.
Edward Philip
And for good reason, it is a French specificity, the authors who dare to tackle politics are all or almost all from the seraglio.
Any resemblance to existing characters or situations is thus not really fortuitous and allows for a tasty game of decryption.
Édouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer tell the backstage of a presidential campaign from the point of view of a political adviser who fights to elect a "boss" who looks like Alain Juppé.
In the early 2000s, Éric Benzekri was a socialist activist in the cabinet of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (who takes on the features of François Morel in
Baron noir
), then the team of Julien Dray, who inspired the character played by Kad Merad.
With Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, the veracity comes from his experience as a documentary filmmaker (he was Oscar-winning for
An ideal culprit)
.
Starting from the pesticide scandal and the lawsuit brought against Monsanto by a Charente farmer in 2007, he conducted a long and meticulous investigation, penetrated the milieu of advisers and lobbyists.
“
90% of the facts told in season 1 of Influence Games are authentic and 100% are in the second!
“, he says.
reality effect
Accuracy, this effect of reality, also requires a form at the service of the characters, who remain the best gateway into a universe.
"
I chose to favor a moving camera to make the dialogues more fluid and sets that avoid clichés, especially for the scenes shot in institutions
," says Ziad Doueiri, director of
Baron noir
.
I stayed close to the actors, as if we were inside the characters' heads.
The watchword was energy.
The question of language
is also essential.
“
There is a limit to pedagogy, when you want to be consistent and credible, you cannot put words in the mouths of politicians that are not theirs
, explains Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
The balance is difficult to find.
Politicians handle concepts all day long, we mustn't dwell on it, it has to move forward, it has to flow, while maintaining a level of understanding for the widest possible audience.
We don't necessarily understand all the issues, but enough to be with the characters
.
»
A president (Roschdy Zem) from immigration in
Les Sauvages...
David Koskas
It also happens that reality surpasses fiction!
Thus the unexpected access to power of Emmanuel Macron reshuffled the cards after season 2 of
Baron noir
.
“
Fiction always goes a little less far than reality
, analyzed Édouard Philippe at the Series Mania festival, of which he was the star guest in 2021.
She is required to forbid it at the risk of being taken for something totally messing around.
Imagine a fiction with, in the same season, Notre-Dame which burns, the ransacked Arc de Triomphe, the invaded Capitol and the Covid pandemic… But the fictions prepare reality or model it, as we have seen for Barack Obama with Matt Santos, the Latino president of
At the White House,
2004
.
»
black head of state
The ability of a series to change society through its message or through the representations of the world it offers, thus making them accessible and lasting, was indeed highlighted during the election. of the American president.
As early as 2002,
24 Heures chrono
featured a black head of state.
The authors have also allowed women to access the highest positions, such as Geena Davis in
Commander in Chief
(2005) or Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep (2012)… The coming to power on screen of the first prime minister Danish in 2010 in
Borgen
slightly preceded that of Helle Thorning-Schmidt in real life.
If you have a female president, but three-quarters of the story is about women's issues, that's not doing the goal of feminizing power a disservice.
Eric Benzekri
Even if Anne Consigny embodied the President of the Republic in
The State of Grace
(France 2) in 2006 and Nathalie Baye was a candidate for the position in
Les Hommes de l'ombre
(France 2) in 2012, France is still waiting for her series prophetic.
“
But, be careful, it all depends on how things are shown,
tempers Éric Benzekri.
If you have a female president, but three-quarters of the story is about women's issues, that's not doing the goal of feminizing power a disservice.
The president of
Black Baron
spends her life being president.
It has to be clean.
Amélie Dorendeu, played by
Anna Mouglalis,
is not elected because she is a woman and she does not govern differently from a man
.
»
and a president in
Black Baron
(Anna Mouglaglis): fiction anticipates reality.
Jean-Claude Lother
Les Sauvages
(on myCanal), adapted from the eponymous novel by Sabri Louatah for Canal+, featuring a president of North African origin victim of an attack perpetrated by radical Muslims, tackled head-on the question of power as the legacy of Algerian war – also examined in
Oussekine
(Disney+).
“
Creating Chaouch, the character played by
Roschdy Zem
and adapting him for television with director Rebecca Zlotowski, was doing an eminently political work of imagination
,” says the author.
Put the iron in the wound as American fictions have done since the Vietnam War.
But also show minorities in a range of roles where we do not usually meet them.
In this battle, style is everything.
The narration of my novels, willingly incredible, borrowed from the codes of the 19th century serial novel, as much as from those of the 21st century series
.
»
All sensitivities must be expressed.
And we risk being surprised to see that the treatment of the political fact is not so different on the right than on the left!
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade
One question remains: are political series partisan?
Jean-Xavier de Lestrade recognizes that they are more numerous to look at the left side of the political spectrum.
While considering that these borders are gradually disappearing.
The arrival of fiction by Édouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer could restore the balance.
"
I'm very curious to see their work, especially since the series is directed by Pierre Schoeller
(L'Exercice de l'Etat),
a filmmaker I really appreciate,
" he says.
All sensitivities must be expressed.
And we risk being surprised to see that the treatment of the political fact is not so different on the right than on the left!
The creators we interviewed agree in denouncing the vision of “everything rotten”.
"
We would like to show that political life is made up of people who seek the best, who are sometimes remarkable, with very noble reasons for getting involved
," insists Édouard Philippe.
But also that they can show cynicism, harshness, compromises, which can pass for compromises.
The problem is to place the cursor in the right place.
»
They shape the state
Giving substance to the State, to politics, through the grace of an actor, is the challenge for the creators of series.
Imperial Niels Arestrup seemed predestined to play a President of the Republic - very Mitterrandien - in
Black Baron
.
For Kad Merad, in the role of the PS deputy from the North, it is
“the popular soul of the actor”
who convinced Éric Benzekri.
“It is also that of the character.
Thus, we did not need to insist on the working-class origins of Rickwaert.
He is a witness to the great years of the PS, single-handedly recounts the twilight of the party, of a constituency that is fragmenting, becoming boho, far from its social base
.
Laurent Stocker seems to be one of the most credible actors in the skin of a politician.
The Exercise of the State
, deputy then Minister of Agriculture in
Games of influence
, he will be President of the Republic in
Under control,
in September on Arte, with, at his side Léa Drucker, in the role of a Minister of Foreign Affairs – the actress having recently been president in
Le Monde yesterday
on the big screen!
Roschdy Zem lends his stature to a Barack Obama-inspired president in
The Savages
.
“The reference was powerful, you shouldn't deprive yourself of it,
notes director Rebecca Zlotowski.
With his athletic presence, his charisma but also his final investiture speech, Roschdy is the keystone of the series.
»