An eventful dive into the heart of the GIGN with Guillaume Canet entangled in a diplomatic scandal, we take stock of “Ad Vitam”. Available on Netflix since January 10.
An outstanding climber, following in the footsteps of his deceased father, Frank (Guillaume Canet) devoted his life to the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, the famous GIGN. Once his diploma in hand, he also becomes a tutor, spending happy days with his partner Leo (Stéphane Caillard), pregnant, and enjoys the fraternity of his division. But after an intervention goes wrong, Frank loses a teammate. Soon, his wife is taken hostage, and finds herself at the heart of a stormy state affair.
“I am one of the people who have been extremely affected, in recent years, during situations of terrorist attacks, of this generation struck by the images of Marignane airport, where we see GIGN guys falling from the basket , which go back up. I was in awe of these guys (…)”. In conversation with Gendinfo, Guillaume Canet (lead actor and co-writer) does not hide his enthusiasm for the dedication of this elite corps of the national gendarmerie.
Stéphane Caillard and Alexis Manenti giving “Ad Vitam”
© Christophe Brachet/Netflix
From this admiration comes a credible result, according to Ghislain Rétyncommander of the group, to whom the teams turned. “Ad Vitam” talks about filiation, the spleen of the soldier, allegiance to France often to the detriment of good family health. Filled with good humor and camaraderie, the film Rodolphe Lauga intends to rehumanize these infantrymen who only exist behind the smoked visor of the helmet.
In the wake of “Carry-On” (released on Netflix in 2024), or even “Top Gun”, “Ad Vitam” oscillates between a showcase for recruitment in the GIGN and chases à la “Taken”. An astonishing object which, having pushed testosterone and male fraternity in its first part, torpedoes its possible narrative qualities from the start. No doubt there was the desire to make a muscular film like “Atomic Blond” by David Leitch (a new benchmark in stunt coordination), but it would still have been necessary to work on the angle of the scenario to create the event. However, there remains the pleasure still intact of finding Zita Hanrot, Alexis Manenti, Nassim Lyes or even Flemish Johan Heldenbergh.
-Available on Netflix since January 10.
Trailer for “Ad Vitam”
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