In “Lambert against Lambert: in the name of Vincent”, the documentary filmmaker Elodie Buzuel retraces all the stages of this affair which was in the headlines for seven years. She met all the protagonists, and raises the debate on the end of life. A documentary to discover on Disney +.
The incident made headlines for 15 years. On September 29, 2008, Vincent Lambert, a 32-year-old nurse, was the victim of a serious road accident. Five years later, he is still in a coma. The doctors decide to stop his treatment, but his mother refuses. The fight will last seven years, against Vincent Lambert’s own wife.
It is this Lambert affair that this documentary explores at length and with passion. A Homeric battle. Elodie Buzuel is the author and co-director of this series. “62 proceedings, therefore 62 court decisions. First, I realized that this story had never been told, she specifies. It is a powerful story which has upset many French people, which has moved the law, which has also moved the lines of medicine. And so it had all the resources to be given to everyone, and to make people think.”
Thinking is the key word
How ? By giving the floor to all the parties at length: Vincent Lambert’s wife, his mother, for his last testimony before his disappearance, on December 19, 2022, his doctors and lawyers. Elodie Buzuel continues: “We spent several hours with each of them. We first had to get into the complexity of these 62 procedures, understand what the issues were and the arguments of lawyers and parents in this fight.”
We discover during these four episodes in particular, the disproportion between the means available to the two parties for their defense. The documentary proves in particular the support of Opus Dei, to the action of parents.
“Vincent Lambert’s mother and father are funded, among other things, by the anti-abortion Lejeune Foundation, to the tune, over the seven years of combat, of around 1 million euros. And then Rachel Lambert from €50,000”, emphasizes Elodie Buzuel.
Finally, the series seeks to make people think about the end of life. “I believe it’s already causing this, for those who have seen it, adds the documentary maker. People sit down behind the table and start discussing their advance directives. I think that’s where it’s won.” Vincent Lambert died on July 11, 2019, at the age of 42.
Lambert against Lambert: in the name of Vincent, an informative and exciting documentary to discover on Disney +.