Enfin pris ? (2002)

Enfin pris ? is the kind of documentary that doesn’t just critique television—it dissects it with a surgeon’s precision and a satirist’s grin, turning the camera back on the people who usually get the last word. Pierre Carles follows his earlier media skirmishes by going after TV critics themselves, and what emerges is a smart, bracing look at how censorship can operate without anyone ever saying the quiet part out loud. The film’s real thrill is its psychological edge: you can feel ambition, loyalty, and self-preservation tugging at the participants in real time, making the power dynamics as intimate as they are political. It’s not for viewers who want a gentle, “both sides” media chat, but if you like documentaries that are fearless, funny in a cruel way, and genuinely illuminating, this one lands like a well-aimed punch.

Enfin pris ? is clearly trying to be a sharp, necessary takedown of TV’s self-protective ecosystem, using Daniel Schneidermann as a symbol for how criticism can be managed, neutralized, or co-opted. The problem is that it often slides from systems critique into something that feels personal and score-settling, and as it goes on the argument can get messy, unfocused, and oddly self-sabotaging—especially when it veers into psychoanalytic territory. If you want a tightly built documentary with disciplined evidence and a clear thesis, this may test your patience and feel like a “cabale” more than an investigation. But if you’re already invested in French media politics and you can tolerate a provocative, uneven approach, there are still flashes of insight and a willingness to poke powerful nerves.