Still in pain/mourning Normal People ? Rush to One Day (A dayin French version) from Netflix, a romantic comedy infused with nostalgia, intelligence and beautifully sad pop songs.
I’m halfway through the 14 thirty-minute episodes and I don’t want it to end. This touching British miniseries does not descend into corniness and it remains funny, realistic, sincere, tender and connected to the hearts of its protagonists, two young graduates from the University of Edinburgh.
Her name is Emma Morley (Ambika Mod). She grew up in the north of England in a (very) middle class family. Emma is lively, brilliant, sarcastic and a bit stuck up.
His name is Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall). His London parents are rich and pay for vacations wherever he wants in Europe. Dexter is handsome and attractive and full of assets, which has allowed him to never really struggle in life.
Immediately, I hear the snap of the red flags going up. History already seen, predictable conflict of social classes, the North against the South, Romeo and Juliet of the United Kingdom, it is the opposite of Normal People, nothing new here. Except no. Derived from the bestselling novel by David Nicholls, the series One Day follows Emma and Dexter during the same day, over twenty years. Here’s where it gets fascinating for viewers.
The first episode takes place on July 15, 1988. The second takes place on July 15, 1989. The third takes us to July 15, 1990, and so on.
In one season of One Daywe therefore accompany Emma and Dexter during the first 20 years of their romantic friendship, not as simple and sweet as one might imagine.
The episodes, never too sweet, present themselves to us like Polaroids of the lives of the two heroes. Who do they hang out with? Where do they live ? What jobs do they have? It’s like we’re spying on them in fast motion.
Emma, who dreams of writing theater, struggles and ends up as a waitress in a seedy Mexican restaurant, while Dexter, as charming and nonchalant as ever, gets a job as a presenter on an MTV channel. But who is the happier of the two, do you think?
The first, longer episode shows how Emma and Dexter, who do not gravitate in the same social circles, cross paths at their university prom. They spend a first night together and something is sealed between them, and not in the most predictable way.
This period following the end of university, punctuated by trials, errors and hesitations, is rich for an author. Each on their own, Emma and Dexter are looking for each other, and things are complicated between them. They reveal secrets to each other, they push each other away, they go on vacation to Greece and they hesitate to further explore this strong connection between them.
Emma looks a lot like Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) in Never Have I Ever. Bright, clever and nerdy, she has dreams, but struggles to achieve them.
Dexter, who is similar to the wealthy Félix (Jacob Elordi) in Saltburn, could have been portrayed as a grade AAA douchebag. This sophisticated character, however, carries a vulnerability that makes him endearing. Dexter’s mother, very present in the first episodes, is wonderful. It is she who will send back to her son an image that he does not particularly like.
Throughout the episodes, you will hear the Pixies, The Velvet Underground, the Cocteau Twins, Portishead, Massive Attack, Elastica, Suede, The Cranberries and even MC Solaar. It’s delicious and melancholic at the same time.
Bonus: there is a phone shaped like a hamburger, in the first episode, like in the film Juno. And how can you not be happy when you’re talking on a phone shaped like a hamburger, eh?
The Piaf of television competitions
The four teams of The voice were completed on Sunday evening and it was time for these blind auditions to come to an end. Because the talent has not always been there in spades, far from it, particularly in the last episode.
It’s hard to believe the delirious enthusiasm of France D’Amour for the French cowboy, Emmanuel Hue, 36 years old, who will not progress very far in the competition, let’s say it. It’s also hard to believe that no one pressed the button for Joël Cyr, aka Jo Hell, the 45-year-old rocker who ended up jamming on the MELS studio stage with the coach from the D’Amour team.
PHOTO BERTRAND EXERTIER, PROVIDED BY PRODUCTION
Joël Cyr, aka Jo Hell, and France D’Amour
As this was the fifth and final round of auditions, we had to scratch hard and tolerate some false notes to close this chapter and jump to the next. The candidate who generated the most reactions was Leticia Jimenez, 19, from Montreal, who remade Story of a love by Dalida, in French and Spanish.
Yes, it’s the same Leticia who progressed to the final of The junior voicein 2016, with Marie-Mai’s team, who then participated in The Voice Kidsin France, in the fall of 2019, before returning to The voice of VAT.
She runs competitions, our Leticia whom France D’Amour compared, get this, to Édith Piaf. If it were true, what would we do with it? If it were true, would we believe it? Answer: no.
Having reached this point of exaggeration, I almost prefer to hear Roxane Bruneau say: “Cornelius, with his long sentences, one would say that he is reading the dictionary. ” Nearly.