Why are people in France unhappy? What is the reason French people to feel not happy? It seems that feeling sad or depressed is normal in France. Is this unhappiness rooted in the French culture or why does it appear to be linked to France and their inhabitants? In this documentary, we are investigating the reasons why people in France are not feeling happy.

In Paris, the city of joy and pleasure four-fifths of the inhabitants die of sorrow according to 18th-century French author Nicolas Chamfort. Dutch Parisian Wilfred de Bruijn finds himself on a daily basis in the 18th century but feels happy about it. He can’t think of a better place to live than in Paris. But he wonders if other Parisians still share his love for the French life. Since the 1970s there have been studies into their ineradicable melancholy. One says they use more antidepressants than anybody else in the world.

Living "like a God in France" is a saying applicable to vacationers in France, but absolutely not to the French themselves: to them, life is nothing but worrisome. They are facing high unemployment rates, fear of new terror attacks and an important political division. What is left of pillars that are the basis of the French republic: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité? And what does it mean actually, to be French, today? Dutch Parisian Wilfred de Bruijn uncovers an intriguing country, full of contradictions, far away from the cliches we all know.

The French are big users of antidepressants and prove even more pessimistic about their future than Afghans and Iraqis. Wilfred de Bruijn is amazed every day by the grumpy faces of Parisians that he encounters in the subway and on the streets. You would think it's the fear of terror, but even before the attacks, the Parisians did not look much happier. What is it with the ineradicable melancholy of the French?

Original Title: : Op zoek naar Frankrijk: het verdriet van frankrijk(4/7)

Presentation: Wilfred de Bruijn
Directors: Stefanie de Brouwer, Erik Lieshout
Chief Editors: Stefanie de Brouwer, Olaf Oudheusden
Research: Ilse van der Velden, Alexandre Horiot, Olaf Oudheusden
Anna Prichard, Pauline Cazaubon, Ouafia Kheniche, Marijn Kruk
Armelle Belaunde-Gautret, Gwenaelle Le Gall
Camera: Jackó van ‘t Hof, Joost van Herwijnen
Sound: Rik Meier, Arno Hagers
Editing: Obbe Verwer
© VPRO March April 2016

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