Netflix: Why did the platform censor some scenes from the most watched movie in the world?

It’s the number 1 movie in the world on Netflix and the good news is it’s French! Action thriller Ad Vitam, directed by Rodolphe Lauga (La Source), sees Guillaume Canet play a former GIGN member haunted by his past. His new mission involves a race against time to rescue his wife, who has been kidnapped by a gang of kidnappers.

Fully invested in the project, the director of Petits mouchoirs also produced and co-wrote the film and performed his own stunts. For this, the latter underwent intensive training with ex-soldiers for four months before the start of filming.

The goal of making the most realistic film is on GIGN

The idea for the film came to Guillaume Canet after meeting Thibaut Lévecque, a member of the GIGN who, due to a serious injury, had been transformed into a gunsmith in a cinema. Their exchanges thus nourished the writing of the story and brought realism and authenticity to the story.

But it seems that the desire to provide the most reliable result has gone a little too far. On the official website of the French Gendarmerie, Major General Ghislaine Reti spoke about cooperation with the production of the film. The opportunity, in particular, to reveal that he had requested that some scenes be changed for privacy reasons.

“Let’s say there were two scenarios, or we explained that this or that scene wouldn’t happen like that in reality, and because Guillaume Canet wanted to make the film as realistic as possible, he took that into account, or vice versa.” , that it would actually happen, but I didn’t want to show it, for various reasons.” He explained specifically.

The movie features real members of GIGN!

General Rhett also explains that he wanted to work with Netflix to ensure that the film does not damage GIGN’s image. “I didn’t want this film to damage the image of GIGN and the gendarmerie, whose weapons we are.” He commented and revealed that he had the right to review the entire script that was presented to him.

The realism of the feature film is also explained by the participation of real members of GIGN, that is, pensioners. About 200 people applied to star in the Netflix film, which helped greatly in the casting and training of these supporting actors.

Ultimately, General Rhett believes that Ad Vitam is hitting the mark “quite faithfully” The lives of GIGN members, despite some “somewhat caricatured aspects”. Since its release on Netflix, the film has topped the platform’s most-watched list in more than 70 countries overall.

The action thriller Ad Vitam with Guillaume Canet is now available exclusively on Netflix.

Discover the list of movies currently available on the platform!