Richard Sammel chills in "A Better Place," a series that explores restorative justice

A little slap in the face. A German creation of eight episodes, premiered at the last Canneseries festival, A Better Place focuses on restorative justice. We follow the journey of four prisoners who regain freedom thanks to a political decision: opening the prisons in order to attempt a sociological and reintegration experiment. Led by a chilling Richard Sammel, who we saw in Taxi, A French Village , and Inglorious Basterds, this series questions from start to finish. On the notions of reintegration, justice, forgiveness, anger, pain...

What attracted you to this project, and to the character of Klaus Bäumer, who, on paper, is a real bastard?

The fact that it's a sensitive subject interested me. Then, it's topical and it's part of the society we live in. Even if we don't really want to see it, prisons are overcrowded, so we still feel the need for a change in the system while limiting recidivism. This angle that the series offers is based on real-life experiences, particularly in Scandinavia. Prisoners are released with rehabilitation programs, tutors, apartments, and work. Contrary to popular belief, prison costs more than releasing and reintegrating prisoners, but society wants to punish rather than heal. We're on the threshold of something that, for me, is a bit like the discussion around the death penalty. The death penalty seemed justified, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, until the day we understood that if we want to rise as a society and live according to humanitarian values, equality, liberty, and fraternity, there may be better things to do ethically and morally.

We follow several prisoners' journeys, and this raises questions about forgiveness, justice, the difficulty of finding a balance...

Some find work very easily, housing, others not at all. There is resistance in society. We must not only educate criminals, we must also educate society about this return. Which is very well done in this series, because we see to what extent a part of the population supports this project but that there is also a harsh reality. Afterwards, it questions the punishment. Has prison repaired the crime? No, not at all. We must accept that if we release 300 inmates, maybe 10-15 will reoffend, but that does not mean that the others are lost. We must accept that it is imperfect and try in the medium term. Democracy is also about being able to give its weakest elements a chance. I liked this idea because in this case, my character seems to be one of those who seem beyond redemption.

This character is from another time. Very Cartesian, he deserves to be in prison...

As long as he's in prison, everything's fine. He doesn't understand at all why he's being released. Then we sense that he's not comfortable, he no longer knows the codes of the outside world. He has to relearn. In this respect, he's almost a metaphor for a society that has become accustomed to looking away from prisons and the fate of prisoners. But it's courageous, a series like this, which puts its finger on the sore spot. Now, we have to watch.

How did you work on this character?

Already, he has a look, a face, tattoos. He expresses himself in short sentences. This character, at the beginning, wasn't that defined. We could have made him an alcoholic, a neo-Nazi with a bad head, a super violent guy. And we finally opted for something a little less obvious, because we've already seen stories of neo-Nazis and bad heads. And we went towards things a little more subtle. I considered alcohol as an easy way out. And so, little by little, we moved towards this idea of a loser, of someone who is out of step with society and who has lived too long in this prison system, who no longer finds his place outside. There's something touching and sad about that. He has lost a lot of dialogue over time because his desire to live, to socialize, doesn't come across through words. Then we dressed him, got his haircut, his teeth, his tattoos.

How do you embrace a character like that and not hate him?

So, to love him, it's difficult. But to be fascinated, it's easy. It's also the first time in my career where, once we had the character visually, physically, he appeared in front of me. By looking at myself in the mirror, I found the way. It was a rather unique experience from that point of view. Afterwards, it was a godsend to play him because it's as if you discover his life by putting yourself in his shoes.

Is this a series that can make a difference?

This needs to open up debates on rehabilitative justice. It would be necessary, but it must include something that will be debated: how to deal with repeat offenses? Because it's all well and good to release all these people, but if they start committing crimes again, what will society's reaction be? We need a selection method that minimizes the danger of reoffending. The series really makes you think, because we often put ourselves on the side of the victims, inevitably, and here, we have the point of view of the prisoners, and we realize how difficult it is for everyone, at all levels, to return to a normal life.

, this Thursday at 9 p.m., on Canal +