Exceptional on Arte: a gifted film (review)

An incredible success which, by tackling a serious subject (autism), imposes Toledano-Nakache’s cinema a little more.

Arte is rebroadcasting Hors norms this Wednesday evening (also watch in streaming on Arte.tv). The film by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache is carried by Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb. A favorite for Première, when it was released in cinemas in 2019. Our review:

They are never where we expect them. We had left the duo of gifted French comedies in the middle of their marriage in Le Sens de la fête, we imagined them ready to shoot a new choral film doped with the shocking lines of which they have the secret. It was very bad to know them. Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache have chosen to deal with a serious subject: the inclusion of autistic people in our society.

And it starts strong. In the streets, Malik chases a young woman who has become out of control under the worried gaze of passers-by. In the metro, Bruno comes to the aid of a young man who has sounded the alarm and who is being reprimanded by RATP agents. The stage is set. The filmmakers hide nothing from reality. They filmed with actors with disorders, they mixed real educators and young actors.

We discover autistic people, as we imagine them, to be prey to violent crises. But little by little, the directors lead us to change our outlook on these young people. From objectified subjects, from “sick people”, they turn them into individuals, personalities with their failures and their small victories. And it is the violence of society’s rejection that hits us in the face. We could fear the cocktail of good feelings, those which strongly encourage us to change, those which make us feel guilty. This is not the case. Because Hors norms is first and foremost the story of a fight, that of two men at the head of two associations dedicated to welcoming autistic people.

These structures exist. They are called the Silence of the Righteous and the Relais Ile-de-France. The film reverses the point of view and shows that it is the health policy towards the disabled in France which is abnormal. “The world is dividing in two; those who help you and those who no longer care about you. » This very beautiful sentence uttered by Hélène Vincent, who plays the mother of an autistic person, sums up well the state of the management of serious cases. The finesse of the duo’s writing is perfect here.

OF INTEGRATION

It especially benefits the two protagonists, who, if they are inspired by real models (Stéphane Benhamou and Daoud Tatou), nonetheless remain eminently romantic characters. Both heroes sacrificed their lives to help others. Bruno, always between two urgent phone calls, has not taken the time to fall in love. At the age of 40, he reluctantly agrees to blind dates organized by his entourage. These scenes are burlesque breaths in the combative story of his life. Vincent Cassel is masterful in this role: always empathetic, with a gentle look, sure of his words with autistic people and so tense when it comes to speaking to women. It is one of his most beautiful compositions.

Malik – we sense it more fleetingly – has seen his children more in bed than at the table. He devotes his time to training young people to whom society no longer gives hope and to whom he offers to become their “reference”. Becoming someone again by taking care of others was also the credo of Intouchables. Reda Kateb turns out to be overwhelming and also manages to delicately bring out the affection he has for his friend Bruno. Finally, Hors norms is a film about integration. To the almost impossible situation of young autistic people, Toledano and Nakache contrast that which unites supervisors of all religions and beliefs. Bruno, the practicing Jew, moves among veiled women. Malik, the Muslim, eats kosher in the canteen run by Lubavitch people. The camera never lingers on the external signs of religion, and yet they are there, present. The filmmakers show us France as they dream of it, united in difference. If there is a message to the film, it is this.

SERIOUS QUESTIONS

What is the standard? Should we respect the rules if they are aberrant? How far should you stay within the framework? For the Nakache-Toledano duo, these questions are essential and permeate the film. Through the investigation carried out by IGAS (Ministry of Health) inspectors into the somewhat out-of-frame practices of the association run by Bruno, they draw a more political thread which makes Hors norms their most “serious” film to date. But the social maturity of the duo also knows how to leave room for real moments of emotion thanks, in particular, to the use of music and the interpretation of the young autistic actor Benjamin Lesieur, from the company Les chapiteaux turbulents. In his final dance scene, he gives this film the most beautiful and moving ending we could have dreamed of.