This is THE series of the moment. "In therapy" is an adaptation of an Israeli fiction "BeTipul" (in treatment). In the closed doors of his office, a psychoanalyst receives several patients during a session. Everyone has their own story. Only the historical context brings them together: November 2015.
An original idea and a careful realization
26 minutes per episode. This is the tight format chosen by the directors – the tandem Nakache and Toledano – to whom we owe Untouchables, So close, Our happy days or Out of standards and The meaning of the party with the late Jean-Pierre Bacri. The two inseparable spotted the Israeli series in 2005, when it came out, determined to make a French version. The series has already been resumed in the United States and Italy, each country adapting it to its culture. The context, the ills of society differ, but the mechanics are identical: follow the sessions of a shrink, in front of some of his patients over several sessions. With finesse, elegance and humor, the two directors hit the mark. Each episode corresponds to a session. A closed door, one face to face, in the shrink's office. And no downtime.
November 2015, the ultimate trauma
Beyond the personal history of each one, the chosen period is an essential element of the series. "In therapy" plunges us back into barbarism, the day after the attacks of November 2015. The memories are vivid and the trauma emerges again. Some of the characters come to consult precisely following the attacks – Ariane, the surgeon, Adel the police officer of the BRI. For all of them, the collective trauma awakens others, more intimate.
An exceptional cast
With his voice close to Gérard Depardieu, the actor Frédéric Pierrot embodies the psychoanalyst. With gentleness, sometimes firmness, he gives his character an incredible intensity. In front of him, actors at their best: Mélanie Thierry, brilliant surgeon in disarray, fragile, on the rope, all in nuances. BRI cop Reda Kateb intervened at the Bataclan, refusing to accept his suffering and anxieties. Bluffing also, the young Céleste Brunnquell, as a teenager with suicidal tendencies. The couple in crisis Pio Marmaï and Clémence Poésy, on edge, who accurately reflects the social pressure on women and motherhood. Without forgetting, Carole Bouquet, psychoanalyst, of which Frédéric Pierrot is the patient. His playing is fair, precise, fine offering him a character at his height.
The very real emotion of the actors
All tell it without being able to explain it. For each of the actors, the shooting was overwhelming, well beyond their respective roles. Is it because of the long takes, the tight team, the in camera? Reda Kateb or Mélanie Thierry confide in any case that their tears, their anxieties, sometimes mingled with those of their characters. A sensitivity, an intact emotion which gives even more force to the play of the actors.
Five episodes Thursday, at 8:55 p.m., on Arte. Full on arte.tv
Read also:
⋙ "In therapy": the series judged by a psychoanalyst (and his patients)