A man sees red
Arte miniseries “Off the Track” with Eric Cantona
Alain Delambre (Eric Cantona, l) is constantly subjected to humiliation from his boss (Nabil Terbeche). photo
© Arte/dpa
The long-term unemployed Alain fights against an inhumane system according to his own rules. An exciting French series with the daredevil Eric Cantona in the role of his life.
The raised collar on the jersey was considered his trademark: the Frenchman was in the 1990s Eric Cantona one of the most famous European football professionals. The hotshot celebrated his greatest successes at the English club Manchester United. There, in 1995, he hit a spectator who had previously insulted him with a kung fu kick. Two years later, Cantona ended his football career and switched almost seamlessly to acting.
The still argumentative oddball has now appeared in more than 20 films. In the well-worth seeing French miniseries “Off the Track” he embodies a long-term unemployed person who no longer wants to accept his fate as a supplicant. The first three episodes run on Arte on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday (November 14th/15th) from 12:40 a.m., episodes four to six a day later from 1:20 a.m. The series is already in the media library.
Former human resources 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 of men’s nights out. But the money isn’t enough, 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 land the job as a personnel recruiter.
The role of Alain Delambre suits him like no other, said Cantona himself about this lonely fighter against an almost overwhelming system. Fairness doesn’t get you very far 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 by taking them hostage. Mass layoffs are coming soon.
Alain’s part in this perfidious game is that of the questioner who is supposed to corner the desperate top managers one floor higher on the screen. But then, faced with this disgusting spectacle, Alain decides to play by his own rules. This also 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 makes him 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 oscillates elegantly and with ever-changing twists between glaring social criticism and pitch-black comedy. Screenwriters Pierre Lemaitre and Perrine Margaine skillfully take the eat-or-die mantra of the unleashed market to the extreme.
A grizzled man in his late fifties like Alain doesn’t have the slightest chance against this – but he takes advantage of it anyway. He comes back like a phoenix from the ashes, also enlisting the help of his daughter Lucie, a still rather inexperienced lawyer. When it comes to his goals, Alain no longer knows any relatives. His ever-loyal wife experiences this painfully. “Off the Track” also contains a moving drama about a marriage.
The unsung hero in this intelligent satire is Alain’s old buddy and friend Charles (Gustave Kervern), who lives in a mobile home on the edge of the glittering metropolis of Paris, but turns out to be a clever hacker. This shaggy-bearded nerd, who is never averse to a drink, causes the almost all-powerful energy company to falter with his determination. And pays a high price for it.