2023-09-25 05:00:00
“Here, it’s not Paris, it’s the jungle. To exist, you have to yell, that’s how you recognize a good slobber (“lawyer” in slang),” says Fouad to his lawyer, Maître Roxane Bauer, in one of the boxes at the Bobigny depot. With its briquette walls and petrol blue lines, regulars recognized the depot of the Bobigny judicial court (TJ). This place where lawyers speak with their clients following their custody.
Except that this scene is taken from a fiction, the series “66-5”, broadcast every Monday on Canal + since September 18. The depot seems larger than life, but we are in a filming studio in Bry-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). The cinematographer paid attention to detail by molding the famous briquettes from the depot.
The screenwriter has captured all the romantic potential of the place
This new series tells the story of a young lawyer, Roxane Bauer, played by Alice Isaaz. A collaborator in a large Parisian business firm, she sees her life turned upside down when her husband, a lawyer in this firm, is arrested for rape. Discarded by her bosses, she is brought back to her roots, in Bobigny, where she will try to rebuild herself by becoming a criminal lawyer.
So here she is teleported to 93. She rediscovers the city of Abreuvoir, where she grew up, and finds herself projected into a place like no other: the Bobigny judicial court. “He is the central character of the series”, explains Anne Landois, creator and screenwriter of “66-5”, seduced by “the pop and concrete side” of the building.
Me Clarisse Serre (left) drew on one of her files to provide the plot thread to Anne Landois (right), creator and screenwriter of the series. LP/NR
The author is also the pen of “Engrenages”, another cult fiction from Canal +. Its title, “66-5”, refers to the article of law on the confidentiality of exchanges between lawyers and their clients. The pitch takes us behind the scenes of this vibrant hive. It is often reduced to its magistrates who are overwhelmed by the cases, the great human misery of the litigants, but also its fighting spirit.
The screenwriter has captured all the romantic potential of this fantasy place. She carved out a role for her. “This is the first time that a fiction has given it its full place,” appreciates Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, president of the TJ. During the judicial holidays in the summer of 2022, his court became a film set. Real clerks made appearances there. In the guise of the fictional president, we can imagine the truculent Bénédicte Berry at the head of the immediate appearance hearing.
No “gloomy caricature of the 93”
“I didn’t want this court to be filmed like a grim caricature of 93, but to show the positive side of the negative,” says Anne Landois with a knowing look at Me Clarisse Serre. The criminal lawyer from the Bobigny bar was her source of inspiration. Like Roxane, her double in “66-5”, she also left her office in the upscale neighborhoods to settle in “Boboche”.
She provided him with the thread of the plot by drawing from one of his files. We also see it on screen. She plays a compositional role: an assessor judge at a criminal hearing. As Roxane says, she also “loves” this court: “We wanted to break the clichés regarding this court, its clogged toilets, its water leaks, and show it as a court that works. We never said to ourselves, It’s ugly. We have always been attached to this court. »
The director impressed by the light
A bunker of glass and bricks, placed like a big Rubik’s Cube in the middle of the towers. The building designed in 1972 is filmed like never before by Danielle Arbid, director of the first four episodes: its glass roof becomes a giant disco ball, which restores a kaleidoscope of colors. The large courtroom on the ground floor, where Roxane’s husband is sent to detention, is bathed in a soft light which clashes with the violence of the sentence.
Danielle Arbid admits that at first glance, she didn’t find him handsome. But once she crossed the threshold, she was impressed by the generous light that splashed into the Salle des Pas Perdus. “This court is very cinematic. I wanted to put light everywhere,” she emphasizes.
Me Clarisse Serre (left) has slipped among the magistrates of fiction. Canal +/Denis Manin/Sortilèges productions.
To accentuate the effect, his cinematographer placed a technical powder on the focal length of the camera and fixed it with hairspray. “The process makes the lights shine even more,” continues Danielle Arbid, proud of having “glamorized” the building. In agreement with the screenwriter, she adds: “I wanted to be the opposite of what we usually find in series regarding cities and to give dignity to its inhabitants”. She films the city of Abreuvoir in the same spirit. “Bobigny is captured as he is and as we are not used to seeing him,” boasts the production.
Romance and realism intertwine. “It’s not a documentary. It’s fiction and it can happen in real life,” explains Anne Landois. There we meet Roxane, the lawyer approached by traffickers following a victorious plea. Very credible. More improbable: she comes out of a visiting room with a bottle containing her client’s sperm!
“A beautiful gift given to litigants”
We discover the particular atmosphere of the jurisdiction of Bobigny. “This court is a large judicial family that is not found elsewhere,” notes Mr. Serre. It is the second largest court in France, but lawyers quickly come across magistrates there. There is a little less hierarchy but what makes the difference are its driving forces. »
Closely associated with the series project, Peimane Ghaleh-Marzban, the real president of the judicial court, saw it “a powerful lever of communication”. “Jurisdiction is emphasized. The series shows that justice in Seine-Saint-Denis is the same justice as elsewhere with committed professionals. All this contributes to user confidence. »
Éric Mathais, public prosecutor, in turn confirms: “It’s a great gift given to litigants. In Bobigny, there is a special atmosphere, many cases of drug trafficking, violence and at the same time, justice is not delivered on the cheap. And this building looks great! We are in Seine-Saint-Denis and we are entitled to an exceptional building. »
The series “66-5” is broadcast in two episodes every Monday evening, from 9:10 p.m., on Canal +.
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