“
Little by little it became impossible to exchange a reasonable word with anyone.
The most peaceful, the most good-natured were intoxicated by the vapors of blood.
And friends had transformed, overnight, into fanatical patriots.
All conversations ended with crude accusations.
There was only one thing left to do, to withdraw into oneself and remain silent as long as the fever lasted
..."
To discover
TV program this evening: our selection of the day
This sentence from Stefan Zweig, taken from Le
Monde d'hier,
described the political-social climate of Europe in 1914, an exacerbated nationalism which would lead to the First World War.
Written at a time of the rise of Nazism, it permeates the new series by Éric Benzekri, creator of
Baron noir
,
which tackles head-on the question of identity in today's France.
And what better playground to approach it than the world of football?
Benjamin Biolay, president of Racing
During the French football awards ceremony, Fodé Thiam (Alassane Diong), a black racing star, suddenly violently headbutts his coach, calling him a “
dirty toubab
” (dirty white man).
It was the start of an incredible media storm.
The president of the club (Benjamin Biolay) very quickly called on a team of communicators to manage the crisis.
A man who listens, far from the loud-mouthed character, like Tapie, that one might have imagined.
“
The people caught up in this type of crisis are twigs.
They may be bosses, have money, be respected, but once thrown to the dogs, they are nothing,
analyzes Éric Benzekri.
I wanted an outdated president.
A guy who embodies power, authority and says to a communications agency boss he doesn't know: I'm scared.
»
Also read: Tapie: the media obsession of the star businessman on Netflix
Beyond the crisis, there is therefore the representation of the crisis, this spectacle society dear to Guy Debord.
La Fever
perfectly shows how politics is locked by communicators, the way in which reality is revealed to be masked by fiction, abolished by screens and social networks.
The deciphering of these attempts to clear mines and rewrite history by each party is one of the most fascinating aspects of the series.
Behind the scenes the “spin doctors” are busy, with Sam (Nina Meurisse,
Black Hearts
) in the lead.
Gifted, hypersensitive, chronically depressed, she analyzes and dissects society in an almost philosophical way.
His disillusioned tirades, in collapsologist mode, declaimed with the greatest seriousness, would almost make you smile if they did not ring so true.
The entertainment society
Alas, the machine continues to race away, driven by surges of hatred on social networks.
“
Tonight was September 11 when they lived together
,” jubilant Marie Kinsky (Ana Girardot,
La Flamme
).
An influencer who performs every evening on stage in front of a crowd of delirious fans, she readily admits: “
I found my character, the reactive redhead who smells a bit like ass
.”
And it works !
“
She represents the spectacle, she is too beautiful, too seductive, violent, disturbing, it is the excess of social networks, the world of images which emerges in reality
”, underlines Eric Benzekri.
Ana Girardot.
Thibault Grabherr
She is not alone in exploiting the event and the player's personality.
Politicians of all stripes are taking up the matter.
Associations too, in particular a young enthusiast of decolonial thought (Lou-Adriana Bouziouane) who fights systemic racism.
To the point that some evoke the specter of a civil war – a very realistic register of anticipation reminiscent of
Years and Years
,
and all the more worrying.
“
All it takes is a spark
,” recalls Lebanese-American director Ziad Doueiri (
Black Baron, Black Hearts
),
“I discovered him in my country.
On April 13, 1975 in Beirut, everything suddenly went wrong...
"
Nevertheless, if there is a message, it is that of the importance and strength of the collective.
“
I tried to restore the frenzy, the disorder, but also the potential for brotherhood
,” concludes the creator of this series in 6X52 min, co-produced by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache (
In Therapy
).
Caricatural, some might say?
Obviously when we put the extremes of all sides back to back.
But above all brilliant, exciting and jubilant.