When the soap opera "Pause café" was first shown to French TV screens in 1981, it caused a hype destined only for cult programmes. It had a modernity and a charm few other series had: it showed high schools for what they were; institutions often housing serious problems, with students that needed help but often didn't get it, of which the faculty were often too conservative to assist their young students. Adolescence wasn't all like "La Boum". In fact, it resembled more "Pause café".
In a high school located in the suburbs of Paris, a young social worker, Joëlle Mazart (Véronique Jannot) is assigned to help the students with their daily problems. At first, few consult her. But she knows she can win them over, for she has something no other faculty member has: understanding. Being very close to them in terms of age, she knows what problems they can go through. And there are a lot of them; teen pregnancy, drug usage, domestic violence, family expectations that often overwhelm the children, Joëlle will see every case enter her hospitable, cozy office with the posters from concerts and theatre plays.
To all of them, she offers a cup of warm coffe, and plenty of tie for discussion. This is where her famous surname, "Pause café" comes from. Even when facing the strict, authoritarian principal (Jacques François), who is not very satisfied with having a liberal social worker interfere in his business, she will prevail, because she has the teenagers on her side. For her, the mental health of the students is more important than the image of the school or their grades. She could even sacrifice her position for them.
All this happened in the first season. For, the series had such high audience scores that the suits in French TV decided to give Joëlle Mazart more time to shine the next year, in "Pause café Joëlle Mazart". Now, Joëlle has changed schools, due to the drug-taking of a student incarnated by Marc Lavoine and his revolver eyes. In her new school, no one trusts her, and so she (re)starts her quest in a hostile environment. Still, the traits that had made her name in her previous school earn her the students' appreciation in the new one, too. The problems here being a little over the top, she has to invest even more time, something that will enrage her partner, Lionel (Alain Courivaud). Already having a problematic relationship in the first season, their romance will turn out to be as short-lived as the series's quality years.
With her mission complete, Joëlle decides to take a break from all that for seven years. When she returns, in "Pause café pause tendresse", she is a different person, no longer having the vivacity and the spontaneity that gave her character its uniqueness. This is maybe because she needs to devote virtually all of her life to her son and her husband (Bernard Le Coq). The now-called Mrs. Calvert still works as a social worker, but the cases she is called to deal with make her seem more like a police investigator. Kidnappings, adolescents with guns living in abandoned buildings and other problems more suited to CSI give this last installment a character it can't successfully exploit, transforming it from a commercial soap opera with timely social messages to an exercise in overdramatization.
"Pause café" was now the shadow of its former self and thus disappeared rather quickly, leaving behind a mixed legacy. The first two seasons truly showed the potential a series treating teenage problems with respect could have. The cast acted superbly, complementing each other, and showing the situation prevailing high schools at the time of Mitterand's election. If his getting elected was a change from nearly a decade of conservatism, the glorious first years of "Pause café" served to uncover a more serious image of high school, all the while avoiding moralistic lessons. The series portrayed the issues discussed as what they were. Nothing more and nothing less. It seems as if Serge Leroy and Georges Coulonges ran out of ideas and didn't stop to think if the last season had the spirit of the two former.
So ended the reign of the ""Sex Education" of the 80's", that now remains cult for its innovative character and its charm, its unparalleled content and its capable cast, all combined under a cup of coffee in a room inside a high school. The actors found other things to do. Véronique Jannot played in noir films with little success, Jacques François continued his already long acting career, participating, among others in "L'Africain" (1983), while Marc Lavoine launched his singing career. Yet, this show remained an integral part of their professional lives.
In an interview, Véronique Jannot admitted, rather disappointed that "people will call me Joëlle Mazart for the rest of my life". This is true. What else can be expected, when a show has such an impact, when a whole generation makes it part of their childhood? When Véronique Jannot released the songs "Désir désir" and "Aviateur", it is quite evident who made them hits. The generation still having her as their idol, through this series already dating some years.
If this isn't cult, I don't know what it is.
