FRANCE 2 – TUESDAY DECEMBER 27 AT 9.10 P.M. – SHOW
Two years of preparation were necessary to produce the first issue of “Animal instinct”, a new program on France 2, a kind of mixed animal documentary and “Journey into unknown land”, with a very strong emotional dose. First to find the place: the Serengeti Natural Park, in Tanzania, where the largest concentration of wild mammals in the world is found. Then to refine the project to the taste of the day: immerse three humans for twelve days as close as possible to preserved wildlife, so that they reconnect with nature.
In return, “nature will teach us our place in the world”assures Diego Buñuel, presenter of the magazine.
To take up the challenge of “Animal Instinct”, he reunited with Perrine Crosmary, a naturalist and safari guide he met when he presented, on Canal+, another discovery program, “Les Nouveaux Explorateurs”, who traveled the planet to decipher the atypical customs of distant destinations. Together, they went on location scouting for a week (not filmed), before welcoming the actress Julie de Bona, revealed to the general public by the TF1 series (The Charity Bazaarin 2019, The Fightersin 2022).
A “good client”: “At 4 years old, I woke up my mother at night to ask her: why are we on Earth? », confided the actress during a screening organized for the press, on November 28. The answer may lie in the middle of the “endless plain” (“serengeti”, among the Masai).
The opening scene of the reunion between Diego and Julie on a straight and deserted road can make you smile when you know that around fifteen people took part in the filming. Half of the team focused on the animals, managing to capture astonishing scenes of closeness and complicity.
Nature’s “lesson”
The other half of the team followed the three “humans”, as Diego Buñuel stirred up fears: “The risk is real” ; “Hurry up, there may be lionesses!” » During the screening, Nicolas Daniel, head of magazines for the public channel, corrected for France Télévisions, assuring that“there was no insecurity, just emotional insecurity”.
After a day with the felines, the one dedicated to the elephants is also impressive. It ends (as for each species) with a “lesson” from nature. Right here : “Children need a good father and a good mother to get through life. »
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Without revealing the other two days, let’s add that there is talk of wildebeest, gazelles, the great annual migration, makeup with hyena droppings, cryingly beautiful giraffes, chimpanzee comforters, “hippos”… And the great emotionality of Julie de Bona, to which the viewer can immediately be receptive, sensitive. Or not.
He will then have fun at the sight of an elephant that makes “anything with his trunk”, will enjoy the Great Rift Valley and Olduvai Gorge. He may regret that these landscapes, for lack of being “breathtaking” – an overused expression – could not sometimes leave the three humans speechless. “There, you are in the middle of a totally crazy place”said Diego Bunuel. No trouble !
Animal Instinct, by Hugo Gering (Fr., 2022, 102 min).