The Beatles, ex-votos or the second life of churches… What to see on television this weekend?
FRIDAY MARCH 27
Arte / Documentary – 10:30 p.m.
The Beatles and their beginnings in Hamburg
In 1960, a German club owner sought out the first five members of the Beatles (cover photo) to Liverpool to take them across the Channel and Europe. The youngest, George, is 17 years old. The legendary group began its career in Hamburg (Germany), a port city bustling with a permanent party, populated by strippers and gangsters. The story of their beginnings is that of teenagers discovering their freedom. The beginnings of extraordinary success began to take shape in the first weeks. Archive images parade to the frenzied rhythm of rock. The musicians’ testimonies are supplemented by the views of friends and acquaintances. The rockers have found their style: offering the spectacle of unbridled harmony.
Our opinion: PP
KTO / Documentary – 10:55 p.m.
Ex-voto – The art of saying thank you
At the Notre-Dame-des-Victoires basilica in Paris, they take the form of more than 37,000 marble slabs. At Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in Marseille, they are embodied in models of boats or paintings of marine scenes. Elsewhere, it can also be the gold jersey of cycling champion Jean Robic in 1947, a cane… All these objects were offered to a place of pilgrimage as an ex-voto, that is to say as a token of thanks for a grace obtained. A healing, an unborn child, a successful exam, a roommate found… Any answered prayer can give rise to such a material representation of gratitude. Predating Christianity – objects of thanks dating from the Neolithic period have been found – the practice has been particularly embodied in sanctuaries for almost two millennia and continues to find its place among Christians today. If the subject may seem dry at first glance, this documentary, which skilfully avoids bigotry, allows us to discover this practice with a particular look at prayer under the eye of art history, as the ex-votos speak of the era in which they were offered.
Our opinion: PPP
SATURDAY MARCH 28
TF1 / Magazine – 2:50 p.m.
They give a second life to churches
Of the 100,000 monasteries, churches and chapels in France, 5,000 would be threatened with destruction. Those who survive are transformed: the reconversion of bell towers is a social fact. Every year, ten of them are desecrated and sold, says the documentary. Their rehabilitation is a human and heritage epic. The projects involve dozens of people, sometimes for years. In Nice, it took ten years for the former convent of the Visitandines to become a luxury hotel. In Montpellier, the new use of the building comes closer to its initial vocation: the Ursuline convent becomes a school, like the one run by sisters a few centuries earlier. The slow pace of production gives time to understand the motivations of the actors. For their part, hotelier and teacher affirm that the soul of the place will inspire the present. The film raises the delicate question of the sacredness of buildings in a society which, although secularized, is sensitive to spiritual heritage. Seeing a gymnasium under the stained glass windows of an old chapel may be shocking, but it is one of the possible ways of preserving heritage.
Our opinion: PP
France 5 / Magazine – 9:05 p.m.
Beautiful escapes
This week, France 5’s cameras are flying off the Moroccan coast, to discover the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries and its eight islands. Long perceived as the end of the world, then appreciated by tourists for their heavenly beaches, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura or La Palma each contain particularities, arid mountains or green forests, which now attract many vacationers. The inhabitants work to preserve ancestral know-how and educate the thousands of visitors about eco-responsible tourism. It’s sometimes difficult to navigate the multiple narrative back and forths between the different islands. But we let ourselves be carried away by the singing accents and the boat crossings on a sparkling sea.
Our opinion: PP
SUNDAY MARCH 29
France 4 / Show – 9 p.m.
The path of legends
The Irish Celtic troupe has become a reference in Irish dance since its creation in 2011. As its 15th anniversary tour comes to an end, France 4 is offering its third show, Le chemin des legendes (after Spirit of Ireland and Generations). There we find Paddy Flynn, the owner of the Irish Celtic pub, desperate to see his son, Diarmuid, glued to his cell phone. To remind the young man of the essence of their traditions, he takes him on a journey to meet their roots. Pretext for different scenes whose wild choreographies highlight the virtuoso tap dancing, breathtaking footwork and vibrant music (live), typical of the land of Saint Patrick.
Our opinion: PPP
France 5 / Documentary – 9:05 p.m.
Violence in the fields
Violence ! This word seems out of place when talking about the agricultural world. However, with each economic crisis, the suffering of farmers is evident, even as French agriculture asserts its know-how and financial power. But this beautiful tree hides a hard-hit forest. The investigation carried out over seven years by Nicolas Legendre, son of a farmer, recalls the origins of this paradox. Published in 2023 in The Worldhis work is presented here through the testimonies of around twenty actors in the field, particularly based on the situation in Brittany. Poignant stories of those stuck in an exhausting model. Financial over-indebtedness and technical dependence, pressure on elected officials, threats against farmers, pressing appropriations of land from small farms: so many forms of violence multiplying within the agricultural world as well as with regard to the environment and democratic institutions. The documentary, in charge, evokes the current awareness and the conversions which are taking place. But there is still a long way to go to reconcile farmers with their desire to live well and with good sense of the land and their work.
Our opinion: PPP
France 2 / Film – 9:10 p.m.
Nothing to lose
Between her two boys, her fragile little brother and her job as a waitress in a bar, Sylvie is not idle. One night, his young son, Sofiane, hurts himself while trying to prepare fries while his older brother, Jean-Jacques, has not yet returned home. Without the single mother realizing it, a report was made to social services, and soon, her little one was taken away from her. A legal battle begins, for which Sylvie (Virginie Efira, very convincing) does not have the codes, and which generates waves of incomprehension, revolt and despair in her. This social drama, Delphine Deloget’s first film, follows the fight of a mother as much as that of child welfare, without ever judging them. An intense feature film.
Our opinion: PPP
