L’Effondrement (The Collapse): Witnessing The Collapse Of The System

L’Effondrement (The Collapse) is a French series by the independent audiovisual production company Les Parasites . The series depicts a society after the collapse of the current system, where everyone has to fight to survive. Collapse specialists predict that it will happen in the coming years. But if the crash really happened tomorrow, how would you react?

Each of the eight episodes of sequences takes place in different locations and contains individuals struggling with the collapse of our industrial civilization. The realism of the situations and the rhythm of the chapters are astounding. For that reason, the episodes of 20 minutes get the viewer engrossed in the action.

At the petrol station, the drivers are fighting for the last drops of petrol. In the supermarket, customers walk around the almost empty shelves. Finally, in a nursing home, caregivers no longer know how to feed their residents. It is safe to say that fear triggers the ensuing drama in this series. Nonetheless, the anguish this series inspires inspires action and engagement?

L’Effondrement

The series does not specify what exactly the “collapse” consists of. The idea focuses on the fact that it would happen fast enough to focus on the consequences and trigger a sense of stress throughout all the episodes.

In this world after the collapse , the state has lost all forms of authority, and only the law takes precedence. The richest manage, while the others are forced to manage themselves and cooperate with varying degrees of success. Basically, scarcity of resources turns everyone into potential looters or murderers.

However, the action is not the only motivating factor in the Crash . The sequence image creates such a tension that it is basically impossible for the viewer to stop seeing.

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The breakdown: Would that happen in real life?

The reason viewers choose to watch the entire series at once is that they need to know how the characters are doing. And that is when the fictitious reality effect works completely. The collapse is so realistic that it is easy to think that this is exactly how it will happen. The problem is that this story tells of individualism and violence. Each character is forced to do totally immoral things, which they would be reluctant to do if the circumstances were different.

That’s when you realize that The Collapse is not just another science fiction series. Finally, the dystopia it suggests does not sound so distant. It actually sounds strangely familiar. For example, political debates where no one talks about the environment, and if they do, it’s just criticizing the other’s ideas. A scientist who talks about stopping the disaster now in a radical way. And no one listens to him, as happens in real life.

No one wants to change their individual behavior. Governments do nothing to protect their citizens. They already have an alternative. The viewer knows all this, and that is what gives the most fear. Some of the situations portrayed in The Collapse are so familiar that it is difficult not to get a déjà vu feeling.

But does this narrative sent through fear encourage the inhabitants to change collectively and individually?

The ideas that caused the collapse to occur

Les Parasites is a collective founded by former students of the École Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation (in Norwegian: The International Film School in Paris). In order to maintain its independence, Les Parasites is mainly funded by a Tipeee account. They produce short films and distribute them for free.

Thanks to this independence, it has been able to carry out works such as Artificial Love or La Boucherie Éthique , the latter related to climate change and livestock, which talked about the ecological problems that arise in the sector.

For a long time, this French producer Les Parasites has found interest in climate change and its consequences. In October 2018, they conducted a YouTube interview between Pablo Servigne, one of the founders of collapse psychology, and astrophysicist Jacques Blamont.

For these committed directors, it’s time to open their eyes to the climate threat. The last episode of the series assumes harsh criticism of small-scale politics and the brutal indifference that people seem to have when it comes to this issue.

The directors of The Crash appear to be filming a story based on the Olduvai theory, which states that industrial civilization will collapse around 1930. From that moment on, the episodes evoke a sense of unease in the viewer.

In the series, it seems that people are more inclined to mutual help than other post-apocalyptic classics, such as Mad Max or The Road . But it is not a competition. The collapse is already underway, and our only option is to choose how to deal with it.