The cinema outings of the week with Thierry Fiorile and Matteu Maestracci: “Chien de la casse” by Jean-Baptiste Durand and “Sur l’Adamant” by Nicolas Philibert.
In Dog of the breakage by Jean-Baptiste Durand, Miralès and Dog, interpreted respectively by Raphaël Quenard and Anthony Bajon, are two young people of their time, in their twenties, who live in Pouget, a pretty town in the Hérault, and they hang around in gangs, the evening until late, on the high square of the village, between firecrackers and car rides, without any real purpose.
The arrival of a young girl for the summer will turn everything upside down. If Dog is more withdrawn and silent, Miralès is clearly the dominant one, charismatic, funny, very educated, he has read a lot, he loves classical music and the piano, he even took lessons, he cooks very well, and he lives with his mother, but he is also cowardly, jealous, and does not hesitate to despise or push down his entourage, Dog the first, by being very scathing verbally. And it is the excellent Raphaël Quenard who lends him his features.
Dog of the breakage is a wonderful surprise for a first feature film, it’s realistic, fair, touching, falsely a comedy, but really dark, everyone is very accurate, and if we already knew the qualities of Anthony Bajon, here, it is indeed the talent and the banter of Raphaël Quenard, seen in second role recently at Jimenez, Dupieux or Jeann Herry, who literally carries the film.
On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert
The Adamant is in the heart of Paris, on the Seine, since 2010, a psychiatric day care center, a magnificent boat, where caregivers offer patients a haven of humanity. While psychiatry in France is going badly, very badly, here everyone, whatever their condition, is listened to, considered, we discover people who have talents: music, painting, writing, cooking, and Nicolas Philibert, with his patience , his look, has won their trust, and what they say, with incredible lucidity, is overwhelming.
The documentary filmmaker shows us to what extent care is above all about taking care of the present time. We come out shaken, from this film, wondering where the crazy people are after all, on the Adamant, on the Seine, or on dry land, where crowds of anonymous people run without seeing each other, their eyes riveted on a telephone. We also come out angry, against a health system that mistreats psychiatry, its patients and its caregivers so much, while the demand for care is exploding.