Fourbi itself is not directly fake, but the film does tackle a topical fake phenomenon through an original and moving story. In this regard and also in the refined details of the screenplay, the film is related to Un héros très discret, that is also being screened in this programme.Fourbi is about the perverted attitude of the media towards reality, or, in the Variety-speak of Derek Elley, ‘the contempo media’s vampiric obsession with reality-based fiction’. At the centre is the young working-class woman Rosemonde who has sold her life story to a new commercial television station. Writer Paul is commissioned to write down the story of Rosemonde. Rosemonde killed a man eight years before when he tried to rape her (this detail is a striking parallel with Tanner’s own famous La Salamandre from 1971). There were no witnesses, so the case was dropped. Although Rosemonde had signed the contract with the TV station, she is apparently unable to tell Paul her story. So Paul and the (slight caricature of a) producer then decide to let the actress who will fake Rosemonde in the broadcast spend some time with the real thing. This extreme form of methodccting will probably provide the desired sensational and true story. At first the method does not seem to be a success, but after a while both women start to take an interest in each other, especially in their social and psychological differences. (GjZ)
