“Des Vivants”, a magnificent tribute to the victims of the Bataclan

Oscar-winning director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade signs a series around the fate of the 7 hostages held by the Bataclan terrorists, with their difficult reconstruction once they emerged unscathed from the tragedy.

The series Living people is much more than a tribute to the 90 people killed at the Bataclan 10 years ago. It is a shock to the after-effects of all the others, those who survived. The difficulty of living with this nightmare.

We follow 7 people after the events. They were taken hostage by two of the three members of the commando, in a small corridor near the balcony, and came out alive. The series begins at that moment, on the sidewalk where they find freedom, stunned, staggering, their clothes covered in blood.

We then support them over several years. At first, they couldn’t find anyone to talk to. They therefore became closer, as director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade confides: “Very quickly, they felt alone, even if they could tell their family or loved ones about things. Alone because they almost felt rejected. We listen to them and after a while we tell them that they have to move on.”

The series is not a reconstruction of the Bataclan attack, even if we witness it in bits and pieces. Above all, it is about following the mental path of these men and women who painfully try to reconstruct the events and rebuild their lives.

“The human brain is an extraordinary toolexplains the director. Sometimes he closes off and forgets, it’s traumatic memory: it allows him to survive events. They need to be together to put the pieces back together. Everyone has a piece of history to share.”

Jean Xavier de Lestrade, however, does not forget the deaths at the Bataclan. He therefore recreates the first ceremony, a year after the attack: “The killed had to be present in the series, so that we could pay tribute to them. We hear the names of the 90 victims, I really wanted that. It’s a fairly long and unique scene, a moment where fiction and reality come together in a unique way.”

Living peoplea powerful, worthy series, magnificently led by formidable actors including Alix Poisson and Benjamin Lavernhe from the Comédie Française. 8 episodes on the France.tv platform and soon on France 2.