Those who “served” tell each other
At first glance, we say to ourselves that this documentary series must have been made several times, especially among our neighbors to the South, whose highly developed patriotic fiber tends to highlight the respect that men and women inspire. who enlisted in their national army. However, listening to the four episodes ofAmerican Veteran, we see its relevance in getting rid of some stubborn prejudices about the military – from the United States, but also from elsewhere – on their motivations, their experience and what remains of them, once they return to “civilian” life.
The whole is not exempt from a somewhat patriotic speech and a “fire-fighting” soundtrack which emphasizes the solemn nature of the military engagement, but the narration in the first person breaks the stereotypes a little. Each of the four episodes is “guided” narrator by a veteran known to the general public – host and comedian Drew Carrey, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth and actors Wes Studi and JR Martinez – who tells his own story and serves as a link between the two. testimonies from colleagues from several army corps at different times.
We thus hear confidences about their beginnings in the army, their training and the famous ” boot camp ”Which discouraged some of them, from their experiences in the field and the indelible traces they leave, from the return to the fold, often less glorious than expected, and from their relationship to the recognition of their“ sacrifice ”by civilians. This large confessional deconstructs the received ideas spread by popular culture, and confirms others (that we will let you discover), while succeeding in humanizing those who have taken up arms and who bear traces of them for life.
American Veteran
PBS, Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
“Action” cave women
S seriesecrets of the Dead, who is just starting his 19e season on American public television, skillfully sheds light on myths about periods in human history, thanks to recent research and technological innovations. This week’s episode focuses on the prehistoric woman, who has been confined to her cave for too long, taking care of her young and waiting for the tribe’s hunters to return with their big game …
Recent research and discoveries carried out in Europe, America and Asia show that Mr.me Sapiens was most likely more active and in some ways “independent”. Beyond their role as mothers, prehistoric women from several regions of the world participated in the survival of their clan by hunting small game, by collaborating in the hunting of big game and by gathering fruits and plants with medicinal properties. The works of art that have stood the test of time and the data extracted from the analysis of rather well-preserved human remains give clues to this active life, which would have been made possible, among other things, thanks to the contribution of the cave grandmothers. , but also thanks to possible knowledge in terms of family planning. A fascinating investigation, as the other would say …
Secrets of the Dead: Lady Sapiens
PBS, Wednesday, 10 p.m.
The teenager and his monsters
The opening minutes of teenage horror drama Cryptid recall some shots of American generic productions of this genre still popular around Halloween: a dapper young man, who has just had sex with a classmate in a dark place, dies in murky and bloody circumstances .
The Swedish “young adults” series, launched last year at the Canneseries festival, takes a less predictable tangent immediately after this “explosive” death, of which we let you discover the nature, to focus on the consequences of it on the victim’s best friend, Nicklas, and his entourage, disturbed by this particularly strange event, which is only the first in a series, and by their inner monsters.
Cryptid does not manage to completely free itself from the clichés of the genre, with its adolescent characters drawn in thick lines, but its slow pace closer to psychological suspense (or the youth drama series!) and its way of maintaining the mystery around reasons for these terrifying deaths make it more interesting than many popular Halloween productions.
Cryptid (VF)
Tou.tv Extra, since October 21