Variations on the same theme
With the month of January in full swing, mental health is taking center stage, particularly in view of Bell Let’s Talk Day 2024. On television, two programs are to be put on the agenda. those who wish to explore new facets of this social problem. On the Radio-Canada side, the documentary produced by Karina Marceau as part of Doc humanity takes the public towards the Far North in the company of psychiatrist Marie-Eve Cotton. Based in Montreal, she has been traveling to Nunavik several times a year for 20 years to treat the ailments that affect the different communities that live there.
Much more than following the daily life not without pitfalls of the DD Cotton in his practice, Voices in my head shows not only the difficult living conditions of these indigenous communities, but also a way of approaching mental health that is often at odds with the Western approach. Always with great sensitivity, delicacy and accuracy, we are made to understand mental disorders in a completely different way, despite the tragedies, such as waves of suicides or distant hospitalizations much further south, that they sometimes cause. Up there, mental illness in certain cases takes on a spiritual dimension which leads to reflection: are there not multiple ways to tame it and treat it to better combat taboos?
On another note, the documentary by Emmanuelle Plante and Giuliano Bossa for Crave shows us behind the scenes of laughter. The clown is sad takes us inside the heads of these comedians who make crowds laugh, often by addressing their mental health problems. Because make no mistake, lightness is not, on the contrary, the driving force of humor. Cathy Gauthier, Coco Belliveau, Jean-François Mercier, Mario Jean, Maude Landry, Preach and Simon Gouache are the perfect examples. Without any detour, they speak to the camera and talk about their discomfort, made up of anxiety, depression or even suicidal thoughts.
Voices in my head
ICI Télé and ICI Tou.tv, January 20, 10:30 p.m.
The clown is sad
Crave, from January 24
Also on platforms
Also note the broadcast on Prime Video of the documentary dedicated to Quebec hockey player Alexandre Daigle. The Chosen One looks back in particular at the pressure-filled career of this former prospect, who was considered the savior of the Ottawa Senators upon his arrival in 1993.
As for fiction, Masters of the Air — undoubtedly one of the most anticipated series of January, because it is produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks — follows the progress of a group of fighter pilots (whose roles are played by Hollywood icons among others of the moment Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan) who fight against Nazi Germany from the sky during World War II.
Netflix is interested in the life of Griselda Blanco, this influential Colombian drug trafficker who was nicknamed “the queen of coca”, here played by Sofía Vergara. The series follows the mother’s escape from Medellín to her settling in Miami, where she quickly becomes the head of a criminal drug empire. Still in the world of banditry, Sexy Beastcoming soon to Paramount+, is a series derived from the film of the same name by Jonathan Glazer in 2000, which examines the links between the fictional characters of Gal Dove, Don Logan and Teddy Bass, notable British criminals.
The Chosen One
Prime Video, from January 26
Masters of the Air
Apple TV+, starting January 26
Griselda
Netflix, from January 25
Sexy Beast
Paramount+, starting January 25