The civil war, a subject that occupies our screens – rts.ch

The feature film “Civil War” by British director Alex Garland features Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist in an America in the grip of a civil war and faced with the secession of California and Texas. The film, which aims to depict as realistically as possible the chaos and savagery that would threaten the United States in the short term, topped the North American box office for two weeks.

>> Read more: “Civil War”, a realistic dystopia by Alex Garland, ignites the United States

Broadcast on Canal+, Eric Benzekri’s series “La Fièvre” depicts a general outburst in France After an altercation between a black football player and his coach, treated as a “dirty toubab” (“white” in Wolof). during a trophy ceremony. After the success of his previous series “Baron Noir”, devoted to political politics, the director explains that he wanted to make a “reverse shot”, this time x-raying France from the point of view of “society”.

It was from the book “The World of Yesterday” by Stefan Zweig that Eric Benzekri took the title of his series, as an echo of the Viennese author who told the story of Europe at the beginning of the last century, set ablaze by nationalism: “Friends whom I had always known as determined individualists had transformed overnight into fanatical patriots. All conversations ended with crude accusations. There was only one thing left to do: withdraw into oneself and remain silent as long as the fever lasts.”

These stories, although fictional, resonate with political reality: the European elections are approaching, from June 6 to 9, closely followed by the American presidential election, on November 5. The theme of identity crisis is at the heart of these campaigns. In October, National Rally President Jordan Bardella reported that President Emmanuel Macron told him he did not want to dissolve political-religious organizations in France because of “the risk of leading the country to civil war.”

For its part, “Civil War” has revived fears of a possible collapse, the result of a polarization of American society. “Is the United States on the eve of a new civil war?” was also the title ofa recent debate on the RTS airwaves.

“Fever” motivated publication by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, a rather left-wing think tank, with around thirty analyzes signed by eminent political scientists or sociologists, including the Italian-Swiss author Giuliano da Empoli, author of “The Mage of the Kremlin”. It’s not every day that a series sparks political analysis.

According to Giuliano da Empoli, “The Fever” constitutes a major political act. “The series is striking proof that everyone must find their form to do politics, if we still want to do it.”

But why are these stories so captivating? Perhaps we seek, through these stories, to anticipate or prevent future crises. For the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, “La Fièvre” represents a prophecy to be rejected, an invitation to find solutions in fiction rather than in fate.

“It is the possibility of discussing the identity tensions which agitate the country, and even which fracture it, outside of the news items. What matters to me is the collective: how we try to live together when we are Gauls, that is to say people who did not speak the same language two centuries ago”, explains Eric Benzekri, on France Inter.

Anne Fournier/vajo