Why are we fascinated by murderers?

Barcelona"Truman Capote said that when he began to approach the real story that would be the center ofIn cold blood, suddenly had a doubt, the feeling that maybe he was going to run away: it ended up taking five years of his life, five years of nightmares. For me, it took me thirst." The French writer explains this. Emmanuel Carrère, about the book The adversary (Anagrama, translated by Marta Marfany). Around Sant Jordi, I discovered that Filmin had dedicated a section to Book Day. Under the name Filmin books, you will still find new documentaries related to literature. There are some about Gabriel Ferrater, Stephen King and Georges Perec, and although I was tempted to start with him, my unconditional passion for Emmanuel Carrère and The adversary, surely his most emblematic work, made me opt for Carrère, the writer and the murderer (Camille Juza, 2024).

Before continuing, I'll give you some background: on January 9, 1993, Jean-Claude Romand murdered his parents, children, and wife. The case was particularly high-profile because it was soon discovered that he had been living a lie for the past eighteen years: he had made everyone believe he was a doctor and worked for the WHO, but every day he left home and entertained himself however he could, until it was time to return. In fact, in the documentary, Carrère explains how important a sentence he read in Release about Romand: "He was lost, alone, in the forests of the Jura." It was one of the reasons that made Carrère immediately fascinated by this true story, that he wanted to write something. He got accreditation so he could be at the trial, he sent a letter to Romand to talk to her.

One of the things that has interested me most about Carrère, the writer and the murderer It features Carrère's statements from the time, but also interviews the author almost twenty-five years after the book's publication. He speaks, with the distance of time, about the letter he wrote to Romand, which, read now, he confesses was perhaps somewhat complacent, although he also claims it wasn't a tactic, that he wasn't aware of it at the time. The documentary features voices like that of the case's general counsel, who sees Carrère's compassion for the killer as sincere but makes it quite clear that, for him, compassion should only be for the victims. It's a very interesting topic raised in the documentary: why this feeling for the killer, this interest? How does Carrère view him? From where? Angie David, the editor, puts it on the table with a less strict perspective than the lawyer's: "A writer always flirts with the limits of what is humanly and morally acceptable." Carrère says he felt fear and shame for having been fascinated by Romand, and the writer Neige Sinno stands by his side: "I'm fascinated by him too, and I'm ashamed to be fascinated by him."

The writer abandoned the project several times. At a certain point, he was clear that he wouldn't tell about the murder of his children, he says, but the case remained on his mind. Romand wasn't a murderer, and that was enough: in the fact of lying, it seemed to Carrère that there was something that could be universal. I recommend the documentary, because it delves into all of this, and I think it's important: not only in the recent context of the case of the book on Joseph Breton, but more generally because of the moment we are living in, of fascination with the true crimePerhaps it would be worthwhile for us to consider what role we want to play, as readers and as viewers.