Arte mini-series "Off the track" with Eric Cantona
The raised collar on his jersey was his trademark: In the 1990s, Frenchman Eric Cantona was one of Europe's most famous professional footballers. The hotshot celebrated his greatest successes at English club Manchester United. There, in 1995, he maltreated a spectator who had previously mobbed him with a kung fu kick. Two years later, Cantona ended his soccer career and switched almost seamlessly to acting.
In the meantime, the still feisty maverick has appeared in more than 20 films. In the French mini-series "Off the Track", which is well worth watching, he plays a long-term unemployed man who is no longer willing to accept his fate as a supplicant. The first three episodes will be shown on Arte on Tuesday night (November 14/15) from 0.40 a.m., episodes four to six a day later from 1.20 a.m. The series is already available in the media library.
Former personnel manager Alain Delambre (Cantona) has been unemployed for six years. While he cleans parking garages at night for a few euros, he tells his wife Nicole (Suzanne Clément) tall tales about men's nights out. But there's not enough money to go around, and Alain is a guy who defines himself entirely through his work: without a job, he feels like a social outcast. When he gets his hands on a job offer from a large energy company, he pulls out all the stops to get the job as a recruiter.
The role of Alain Delambre suits him like no other, said Cantona himself about this lonely fighter against an almost overpowering system. You don't get far with fairness in capitalism. Alain has long since internalized this wisdom. Now he has to deal with an unscrupulous company boss who wants to test his managers' resistance to stress with a fake hostage-taking. Mass redundancies are imminent.
Alain's part in this perfidious game is that of the questioner, who is supposed to corner the desperate top managers one floor up on the screen. But then, faced with this disgusting spectacle, Alain decides to play by his own rules. This includes a pistol with live ammunition. The situation escalates, Alain is arrested and ends up in a notorious prison. But now that he is on the ground, his fighting spirit really awakens. Even behind bars, his cleverness turns him into a media star, and the trial against him leads to an unexpected showdown.
Director Ziad Doueiri ("The Affront") has staged a brilliantly cast series that elegantly alternates between garish social criticism and pitch-black comedy with ever new twists and turns. Screenwriters Pierre Lemaitre and Perrine Margaine skillfully take the eat-or-die mantra of the unleashed market to extremes.
A greying man in his late fifties like Alain doesn't stand a chance against this - but he uses it anyway. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, he comes back and also enlists the help of his daughter Lucie, a rather inexperienced lawyer. When it comes to his goals, Alain no longer knows any relatives. His always loyal wife has to learn this painfully. "Off the Track" is also a poignant drama about a marriage.
The silent hero in this intelligent satire is Alain's old buddy and friend Charles (Gustave Kervern), who lives in a mobile home on the outskirts of the glitzy metropolis of Paris but turns out to be a cunning hacker. This shaggy-bearded nerd, who is never averse to a drink, shakes up the almost overpowering energy company with his determination. And pays a high price for it.
The upcoming episodes of the French mini-series "Off the Track" featuring Eric Cantona will air on Arte's television channel on November 14 and 15. Despite the negative outlook of television media towards the series, Cantona's portrayal of a long-term unemployed man has gained critical acclaim.
Source: www.dpa.com
