This Thursday evening, M6 is interested in strokes, school and retraining in “Le Nouveau”, a new TV film with François-Xavier Demaison broadcast at 9:10 p.m. We tell you what we thought about it.
What is it about ?
While the road transport company inherited from his father is on the verge of bankruptcy, his wife Adèle (Julie Gayet) is on the verge of leaving him, and his daughter Mathilde (Emma Dupont) is having a hard time with this situation, Alexis ( François-Xavier Demaison) suffered a stroke. The business manager initially believes that this event has no consequences, until he realizes that he can no longer read or write.
Fearful of losing everything if he tells the truth to those around him, Alexis decides to undergo accelerated rehabilitation in the greatest secrecy. To do this, he reconnects with Jean-Michel (Charlie Dupont), his childhood friend with whom he believes his wife is cheating on him, but above all the teacher at the small primary school in their native village.
Alexis then becomes “the new one” in the single class from CP to CM2. Through contact with his comrades, notably ten-year-old Binou (Noé Chabbat), who will quickly become his friend, as well as Jean-Michel’s original teaching methods, Alexis will find inspiration and courage to try to reinvent his professional and love life.
It’s worth checking out ?
At first glance, the pitch of New presage of a little unpretentious family comedy which uses the stroke as a pretext to create an offbeat and comical situation, in this case seeing a man in his fifties having to return to primary school and make friends -friend with a ten year old child. To the extent that fiction is, moreover, not known to be M6’s strong point, the promise does not raise great expectations. However, we would have been wrong to focus on this somewhat misleading first impression.
In reality, New is not an ordinary comedy and has several good surprises in store. Behind the apparent lightness of the TV film lies, first of all, multiple invitations to reflection on various themes at the heart of current affairs. Alexis’s stroke and return to school allow us to instead address questions related to retraining, our model for school, school dropouts, or even the ideal company.
Jonty Champelovier, Elephant Story, B2, M6.
Treated in a neither educational nor superficial manner, the few avenues of reflection mentioned here and there (the entrepreneurial vision of the cooperative, the teaching, at school, of everyday knowledge such as cooking, awareness, from childhood, to ecology, thanks to the maintenance of a vegetable garden, etc.) have the merit of existing. Two morals emerge above all from the TV film: we can learn at any age, but also from people of all ages.
The other main surprise of New comes from its casting. Indeed, while we expect to see François-Xavier Demaison single-handedly carry the TV film with a character with whom we can certainly identify but is predictable, it is, against all expectations, a tender and endearing duo formed by the main actor and Noé Chabbat who punctuates the TV film. The eleven-year-old boy, a true revelation of New, after launching his career this year with You will choose life, Prisoner Island and AKA, shines in this role ultimately far from being secondary or from having been created to serve the solid performance of François-Xavier Demaison. Enough to reinforce the pleasant surprise left by the TV film at the end of the evening.
What does François-Xavier Demaison say about it?
Noé Chabbat also left very good memories for François-Xavier Demaison. “He’s great, Noé, he sends. He has absolute sincerity. In emotion, he picked me up several times. When, in a scene in the car, he says to me ‘Do you want to be my daddy?’, I “I stayed there. He’s an actor who is already very professional, both very conscientious and very precise”enthuses the actor.
More broadly, François-Xavier Demaison does not see any real difference between playing with children or with adults. “Their presence implies schedule constraints which mean that we cannot shoot a lot per day. But otherwise, it is they who are in charge. The children burst the screen and do not cheat. So we have no interest not to cheat in your face either. It’s very nice to film with children”tells us the comedian, currently on tour with his new show Divine(s).
The main actor of New also sees several similarities between him and his character. “We can draw a parallel with my career. Like me, Alexis put aside her childhood dreams to please those around her but ended up following her artistic desires. I did not have a stroke. On the other hand, I also had, in a way, a shock which made me realize that I no longer wanted to waste my time in life earning it, that life is short and that we must therefore follow rather his dreams”, explains François-Xavier Demaison. Can we also see in New a nod to his great-grandfather, who was a professor in the countryside, like his character’s best friend in the TV movie? “Transmission, the importance of teachers in the construction of a child and their life trajectory… These are themes that really speak to me. It’s so important to talk about them”confirms the actor, who returns us with My Schoolmaster (2015), a documentary that he co-produced and which follows a teacher throughout his last year of teaching before retirement.
If François-Xavier Demaison were to, like Alexis in the TV movie, relearn something, or had the possibility of learning something new at his age, it would not, in any case, be something radically different from his age. character. “I think if I could carve out some time, it would be to learn something with my family or loved ones. Maybe learn to play a musical instrument or take a cooking class with my daughter. I’m one step away from age where I want to continue learning, but with my children”suggests the comedian.
Le Nouveau is a new TV film to be discovered this Thursday, December 21 at 9:10 p.m. on M6.