In an era of newsroom budgets being slashed, cable TV in free fall, and unending media consolidation, even the idea of a investigative television news team seems antiquated.
So it feels somewhat nostalgic to watch Alix Delporte’s third feature Vivants (On The Pulse), which despite its desire to be au courant, nonetheless feels like a picture out of time.
In fairness, Delaporte does address the challenges of the modern newsroom early on: flagging viewership, youth engagement, and keeping audiences from flipping the channel. But the dramatic focus is still on the nitty gritty, day in and day out grindset of the front line television reporting hustle. Our guide through this insular world is Gabrielle (Alice Isaaz), who has arrived in Paris from Grenoble, with a technical institute degree under her belt, specifically to fill the open intern role on a highly regarded, close knit, investigative journalism team. She beats out a slew of other eager candidates by quickly getting veteran Vincent (Roschdy Zem) on her side, who convinces Camille (Pascale Arbillot) to bring her on. From there, it’s all hands on deck.
On Gabrielle’s first assignment, she jumps in the back of an ambulance and follows the team around an emergency room, as they prepare a report about the crumbling infrastructure of the public healthcare system. She’s with the crew when they follow vegan commandos as they raid a rabbit farm. By the time Damien (Vincent Elbaz) is sent on a dangerous mission to a battle zone, she’s fully part of the workplace family worrying about his safe return. But not every gig is an adrenaline rush — a fashion show is an easy layup for ratings, but as Gabrielle will learn, it brings its own distinct set of problems.
Running under 90 minutes, Vivants feels too slight to be bafflingly credited to Delaporte and three other screenwriters. It’s clear that at some point Delaporte and Co. made a conscious decision to strictly focus the action in the office or in the field. But in leaving any kind of meaningful insight into the team’s personal lives and internal struggles behind, the characterizations suffer and remain flat.
Gabrielle arrives confident, cool-headed, and capable, and largely stays that way, never overwhelmed despite being wholly inexperienced. She’s just as comfortable in the editing suite as she is operating a camera, and everyone is immediately impressed by her natural talent. Gabrielle’s arc is mostly defined by a vaguely romantic, hardly credible relationship she develops with the much older Vincent, that’s largely captured in their batting eyes toward each other. Meanwhile, a single, brief, almost throwaway scene sees Camille express a half-desire to have a child before talking herself out of it. The combative Kostas (Jean-Charles Clichet) has an on-again, off-again relationship with his girlfriend who remains out of frame. These snapshots of life beyond the newsroom seem like large portions of the screenplay that were abandoned to focus on the any-hour-of-the-day immediacy of the job.
The film’s narrow band of focus means the narrative also spins its wheels. Aside from broad directives that arrive from executives up the chain of the command, and just as quickly float away, there’s nothing guiding the plot or the work the team does other than the next news story. The only real tension is whether or not the they’ll get the report in the can and make it to air, and for the most part, that’s never really in doubt.
On The Pulse endeavors to deliver an unfiltered, verité celebration of journalism, but in revering its reporters as something akin to superheroes, it idealizes the profession to the edge of being divorced from reality. Today’s news moves fast, makes mistakes, and is sometimes incomplete. Biases or corporate influence can sometimes create conflict in delivering a story. Someone with a iPhone can capture a breaking event faster than even the most experienced crew. However, what Delaporte forgets is that these elements — imperfect, flawed, human — are what make the best reporting so memorable.
Director: Alix Delaporte
Screenplay: Alix Delaporte, Alain Le Henry in collaboration with Olivier Demangel, Jeanne Herry
Cast: Alice Isaaz, Roschdy Zem, Vincent Elbaz, Pascale Arbillot, Pierre Lottin, Jean-Charles Clichet
Producers: Alain Attal, Patrick Quinet
Cinematography: Ines Tabarin
Production design: Nicolas de Boiscuille
Costume design: Caroline Spieth
Editing: Virginie Bruant
Music: Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
Sound: Pierre Tucat, Emmanuel Angrand, Arnaud Rolland, Eric Tisserand
Production companies: Tresor Films (France), Artemis Productions (Belgium)
World sales: Pyramide Films
Venue: Venice Film Festival (Out of Competition)
In French
86 minutes