Watch tonight: “Boire” on France 2, the challenge of becoming sober in a society that values ​​alcohol

FRANCE 2 – TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 16 AT 9:10 P.M. – DOCUMENTARY

A neutral setting, chairs arranged in a circle, and a dozen men and women taking their seats. By reproducing, from the very first images, the archetype of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting (with Professor Amine Benyamina as moderator), director Elise Le Bivic establishes the narrative structure of her documentary: "Family, friendly, and intimate stories that resonate with the lives of a majority of French people."

To design Boire , she intersperses with these sequences of the speaking circle those filmed beforehand, at the participants' homes, and others from archives, often seen, which broadly retrace the evolution of French society's view of alcohol : water mixed with wine served in school canteens until 1956; the Evin law; media campaigns – "Have you seen yourself when you've been drinking?"...

Thirty years later, alcohol remains associated with celebration. The director didn't miss the retort of presenter Léa Salamé in "Quelle Epoque!" facing director Artus, in 2024. When the latter explains that he has stopped drinking and smoking, she asks him: "So you've become boring?" The audience bursts into laughter.

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