The story of Florence M. had everything to interest a fiction director: her disturbing personality, her immense nerve, the extent of her lies… It’s no wonder that genre filmmaker Just Philippot wanted to give substance to the journey of this repeat con artist, who managed to pass herself off as a victim of the Bataclan attack – 90 dead on November 13, 2015 – for more than two years.
In his mini-series A devoted friendwhich will be released on October 11 on the Max platform, the director ofAcid and of The Cloud entrusts the role of this forger to Laure Calamy. Freely adapted from the book by journalist Alexandre Kauffmann, The Bataclan Mythomaniac (2021, Goutte d’Or editions), the four 52-minute episodes retrace how this forty-year-old lied to the real survivors of the massacre, claiming to have been in the room during the Eagles of Death Metal concert, and inventing a seriously injured relative. Arrested in February 2018 and tried a month later, Florence M. was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
The attitude of this woman, presented as psychologically fragile by the expert who met her during her trial, greatly shocked the victims who had trusted her. So, for Sophie Parra, a survivor of the Bataclan, this fictional transposition is painful. “She did us a lot of harm. She lied to everyone: to the associations, to the victims, to the guarantee fund [Florence M. a touché 25 000 euros d’indemnisation]. To bring it back into the light is really adding pain to pain.”deplores the woman who received two bullets during the attack.
In general, Sophie Parra recognizes “having difficulty with everything that is done about November 13 when it does not come from the victims”, uncomfortable, she said, with the fact of “make money on this topic”. Every time, “it stirs up a lot of things”, continues this 40-year-old Lyonnaise. Sophie Parra believes that Florence M. is being offered. “exactly what she was looking for, that is to say glory, notoriety”, already imagining that she could be invited to shows such as “Touche pas à mon poste” when the series comes out.
Catherine Bertrand, another Bataclan survivor who knew Florence M. well, believes that “The media tends to talk a lot about false victims, who fascinate, and finally, the real ones are falling into oblivion, especially since the end of the trial.” “Who is interested in us? In what we have become? In the way we rebuild ourselves?” she asks.
Arthur Dénouveaux, the president of Life for Paris, the main victims’ association, is a little less clear-cut. If he says “understand all points of view”he emphasizes that the five-year moratorium that had been requested by the victims for any creation of fiction around the November 2015 attacks has been respected.
“It’s an event that is anchored in the modern history of France, we know that we will have to live with a virtual, romanticized version of what we experienced. This is only the beginning.”
Arthur Denouveauxto franceinfo
The director and screenwriter of the series Sambre et Laëtitia, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, also made it known to Telerama that he was preparing a new series for France 2 inspired by the story of the Bataclan hostages. In 2022, it was the film Novemberby Cédric Jimenez, which was released on screens.
Sophie Parra admits that the horror she experienced is now beyond her control. “But I find it hard to see yourself robbed of your own history. For many, we haven’t even gotten over it yet,” she insists. However, she is reassured by the story told to her by a friend who saw the series in preview during its screening at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival. “She told me the character was really detestable, so it seems pretty true to life,” she slips.
“It’s a complex role, because yes, she’s a crook, but also probably a woman who is a bit of a victim of herself: it probably took a great actress to play her.”adds Arthur Dénouveaux, about Laure Calamy. The latter nevertheless declares “lack of perspective” on the subject since a character will be directly inspired by him in the series. He will be played by Arieh Worthalter, César for best actor this year for his role in The Goldman Trialby Cédric Kahn. He says he dreads the moment when his colleagues will question him to find out what is real and what has been more fictionalized.
The director Just Philippot, whom Arthur Dénouveaux met, assured him that he intended to deliver “a measured, not voyeuristic, story”. He says he is rather confident, given this exchange. “For us, within the association, the only scandal would be if there was a form of negationism, rewriting or an ultra-romanticized version of what we experienced. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.”he says. However, he is not sure he will see the result when the series comes out. And concludes: “We never wanted to be censors, it will be up to people to form their own opinions.”
