November 13: Attack on Paris

I really cannot recommend this 3 part documentary highly enough. The bravery show by the victims and the emergency services is inspiring. The description of mobile phones ringing amongst the fatalities was haunting.

My only very small critique is why there were no photos of the inside of the locations. It would be helpful to know what some of the areas described look like, especially in the Bataclan.

The events in Paris were just news stories to me, incomprehensible really, as I didn't know the places they happened, and news channels whilst no doubt they would have binged on an event like this, they move on so quickly to the next awful thing that there is no emotional impact and never a sense of the lives ruined and altered permanently.

In this three parter, there was no rushed moving on, and no "cat on a skateboard" at the end, before the weather a la TV news. Instead, there were everyday people who saw things that no one should see, and professionals who dealt with cascading crises such that they could never have expected, all described this terrible night with calm, grace and great humility.

The depth of emotion, the lyrical and insightful ways in which some of the survivors describe their experience really struck me, for example Valerie in Ep3 when she reflects on whether or not she would agree to having the memories removed from her consciousness, if this were possible. She said no, her reasons for saying no demonstrate to me why these people, and Paris operate in a different universe to the mindless killers that tried to take it from them.

Well not just about that - it is about human survival, it is about sacrifice and it is about decent people helping others in need. It is about shock and it is about disbelief and it is about what some of the people who survived remember of that fateful night. As mini series documentary this works quite nicely and makes sense overall.

There are a lot of people involved and you should find yourself feeling what those impacted felt too. It's not easy to watch as you can imagine and one can only hope this does not happen to anybody. Important documentary and really sad and life affirming at the same time

Wonderful documentary about such a tragic period of time. It'll leave you shocked and your jaw dropped! Thanks to all emergency services out there!

At this moment I finished this mini Tvserie on Netflix. And while I am typing this I smoke a cigarette because it feels so surreal to have seen this horror. My thoughts go out to the victims on this black day in the history of Paris.