The series "In Therapy", broadcast from Thursday on the platform of the Arte channel, takes up the principle of an Israeli fiction which follows the psychoanalysis sessions of several patients.
By transposing the story to the end of 2015, this French version magnificently dissects the personal and collective trauma of the November 13 attacks.
On paper,
En Therapy
was not a winner.
A French series but adapted from an Israeli fiction (
BeTipul
) so well known that it has already been reinterpreted twenty times in as many different countries;
thirty-five episodes (!) almost all shot within the four walls of a psychiatrist's office;
a difficult subject, that of the 2015 attacks;
and at the controls Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, more readily associated with comedy than with drama, and who have accustomed us to the best (
Our happy days, So close
) as well as to the tasteless sweet (
Samba
).
On the small screen,
En Thérapie
is nevertheless, let's say it from the start, a huge success.
The shadow of the November 13 attacks
The mainstay of the story is Philippe Dayan, a seasoned Parisian psychiatrist who, for years, with unparalleled benevolence and a little special humor, has helped his patients tame their ailments if they did not get rid of them.
The series follows five of them in the weeks following the November 13 attacks.
But make no mistake, terrorist attacks are a backdrop before being a subject.
There is hardly any other than Adel Chibane, a BRI police officer in operation at Bataclan, who comes specifically to consult to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ariane, surgeon, left for the emergency room that evening, is a "regular".
Leonora and Damien, them, form a couple who tear themselves apart among many others.
Camille, 16, simply needs a certificate for insurance, which wants to verify that she does not have a suicidal drive.
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The exposure of these few characters, to which must be added that of Esther, Philippe Dayan's own psychiatrist, constitutes the essence of the series.
But just as fiction often tries to inscribe the little story in the big one,
In Therapy
casts the shadow of the collective one of the attacks over personal traumas.
It is in the intelligent and subtle articulation of these two elements that lies the power of the series, elegantly melancholy.
Each episode shows, in addition to these wounded beings, part of the bruises of society as a whole confronted with the unspeakable.
"Catch your time in the act"
Rarely has a French series been able to "catch its time in the act", to use the maxim of Italian cinema dear to Eric Toledano.
He who had in mind the adaptation of
BeTipul
for a long time (the original Israeli series dates from 2005) began to work seriously on it four years ago.
"Before, it was a desire. The post-attack situation is the moment that triggered the need for this series to exist," he explains.
"The principle of
BeTipul
is really to soak up the culture of a country, its state of questioning. And this era, it is inevitably made, for all those who crossed it, of this brand that 'have had the attacks on us, a strong and powerful mark. "
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Attacking a field, psychoanalysis, where every word has its importance, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache have carefully chosen those of their characters.
The dialogues, chiseled, are of such finesse that we forget their length.
Some actors even had to work with an atrium so much to remember, starting with Frédéric Pierrot, eternal and luminous supporting role of French cinema, excellent in the role of Philippe Dayan.
If the casting is generally up to its prestige (Reda Kateb, Carole Bouquet, Mélanie Thierry, Pio Marmaï), Clémence Poésy and the young Céleste Brunnquell, in the roles of Leonora and Camille respectively, impress.
Perhaps because the two actresses, after having put on the suit and the tracksuit 'of characters a priori very unsympathetic, end up letting their unsuspected charm escape.
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The art of staging in a closed environment
Creating the dramatic tension of a few sentences, in a very constrained setting ranging from an armchair to a sofa, is a double tour de force.
Toledano and Nakache, supported by a pool of talented directors (Nicolas Pariser, Pierre Salvadori and Mathieu Vadepied), comes out with honors.
Based almost entirely on reverse fields, the staging is a model of effective sobriety, especially as
En Therapy
has the good taste not to take its soundtrack for a tear-pulling crutch.
Remain, at the end of a sometimes trying but always captivating viewing, a few moments of grace suspended, sometimes, with a simple gesture.
Legs folded up on a sofa, a vague gaze, the body that lets go just before the mind.
And then, above all, after the flood of words and emotions, silence.