Moored on the right bank of the Seine, The Adamant is a day centre catering to the needs of people with mental disorders from the four central arrondissements of Paris. Resembling a hip riverside restaurant more than a psychiatric hospital, the floating wooden edifice was completed in 2019 after consultations between its designers and its therapeutic staff and, most importantly, its patients – a gesture that mirrors its approach in removing the usual border wall between caregivers and the cared-for.
This unorthodox, democratic vibe is central to On the Adamant, in which French documentarian Nicolas Philibert delivers incisive observations and intense interviews aplenty about this outlier of a psychiatric centre. Bowing in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, it is similar in its premise (and its subject) to Every Little Thing, Philibert’s 1996 documentary about a similarly unconventional psychiatric centre in provincial France.
The circumstances of these two films are, of course, very different. The La Borde clinic in the film from 25 years ago is more like a laid-back rural hermitage compared to the bustling vibe on board The Adamant. But what remains the same is Philibert’s knack for establishing a rapport with his subjects (a term he’d probably disagree with), and his ability to conjure powerful and insightful observations about a convention-defying, emancipatory institution.
Just like in Every Little Thing, On the Adamant sets out its stall by beginning with a patient’s powerful and very potent musical performance. In the former, a woman defies her frail physique by delivering a stunning, near-professional rendition of an aria from Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in a country lane; now, a man storms through a rousing rock’n’roll number chronicling the ebbs and flows of a once drug-addled and deranged life.
This patient is just one of many whose astonishing musical gifts are sadly penned up by their mental disorders, which Philibert manages to bring to the fore in canny observations about the modus operandi of The Adamant’s artistic workshops. More than just being there at the right time, Philibert knows his brief enough to capture brief moments that speak volumes about the issue at hand. For instance, in one scene we hear a patient freely referencing legendary artists while talking about paintings; in another, other patients very competently analyze their own work.
What makes On the Adamant surprising is the prevalence of seated-down interviews. This might be down to the filmmaker’s determination to give a voice to patients imperiled by budget cuts to public services in France. But by plucking the patients out of their habitual comfort zones — such as the moments when they participate in or even preside over meetings — Philibert runs the risk of differentiating them from their caregivers too much, thus somehow defeating The Adamant’s and his own original ethos.
Director, cinematography, editing: Nicolas Philibert
Producers: Miléna Poylo, Gilles Sacuto, Céline Loiseau
Production companies: TS Productions, France 3 Cinéma, Longride
World sales: Les Films du Losange
Venue: Berlin Film Festival (Competition)
In French
109 minutes
