When you zap this Thursday evening between the different TV channels, you may be surprised by the program offered by 6ter. Why ? Let’s say that we have rarely seen a embalming sequence at prime time. But in Mortal Familiesthe subject is not taboo since this new documentary series follows the daily life of four families who evolve in the funeral directors.
This French creation focuses on a profession and its different practices still unknown to the general public. An embalmer, marble workers, masters of civil ceremonies, several branches of the profession are explained to viewers through the testimony of these families, who have sometimes worked in the sector since 1871.
A choice of caskets with an Ed Sheeran background
The Peschets, the Vigo Habran sisters, the Fontans and the Day-Michels were all approached by the production teams. Even if the filming only lasted a few days, many exchanges were necessary to establish a relationship of trust. “We never filmed what they didn’t want us to film, that was the golden rule,” emphasizes Chloé Raveaux, the program’s director.
At the heart of the thinking of Mortal Families, the desire to restore an image that is too gloomy or sordid. “It’s a job that doesn’t necessarily benefit from a very good reputation and by speaking with them, a lot of prejudices fall away,” reports the director. In the first episode, we feel the didactic scope of the program: in less than an hour, you will know all the names of the fashionable coffins and will know everything about the “aperitifs of death”. All this on a background sound signed Ed Sheeran, it’s disconcerting.
“The idea is not to be in discomfort”
The strongest sequence to discover this Thursday evening is undoubtedly the moment when Yoann, embalmer, performs treatments on a body. “We talked a lot with him to find out how we were going to film and he obviously had his say,” says Chloé Raveaux. On the screen, the images are turned in such a way that the public does not see the body. “Yoann explains his work to us very well and we understand the interest he takes in his job and we don’t need to see the body. »
Do not do voyeurism, this is the instruction that the production teams wanted to apply. Mission successful when Mortal Families follows a ceremony during which we do not show a grieving widow or a family overwhelmed by grief despite the circumstances. “The idea is not to be uncomfortable when you watch this program, certifies the director. The idea was to be behind the scenes with them, not to bring images that would interfere with their explanations. With very little voiceover, the show wants to give families time to tell their life stories. And of death.