Post apoco / zombie fans: Les Revenants

[paolo]

This looks well good. Apparently Mogwai were asked to score for it - Mogwai + Zombies, perfect match I think.

It's a new series from Canal+.

I dunno when/whether it'll be available with English subtitles. Though it's possible that the visceral nature of zombieness might make it watchable without fully following the dialogue. My basic French means I can only pickup snippets, but based on the first 10 mins I'm liking this. Nice photography helps.

First episode in full, it seems...



Given the success of zombie stuff of late, and that series like the Killing et al proving that British audiences can do subtitles, I hope a British channel is smart/bold enough to pick this up.

(e2a... now worked out it's not zombie stuff. It's people coming back from the dead.)

 

[DaveCinzano]

"Retirer la tête, ou de détruire le cerveau"

 

[Epona]

Thanks for the heads-up! I do speak a little conversational French but am not fluent, so at this hour of the morning after Friday night beer is probably not the best time for me to give it a whirl, but will definitely have a look at a time when my head is a bit clearer.

 

[paolo]

ok - so it looks like the tip I read about it being a zombie thing wasn't quite right.

But... having watched the first episode, I think it's lush. Even without being able to properly follow all the dialogue, it's brilliantly haunting. Very - erm - 'spacious'. No need for constant dialogue or key moments. Lots of it is simply atmospheric. In that sense there's a vague hint of David Lynch. (Canal+ funded Mulholland Drive. Maybe they have an eye for this kind of thing.)

Now I have a dilemma. Do I sit on my hands and wait - maybe for ages/forever - for a version with English subtitles, or plough on through knowing I won't be understanding half the sub-plots?

 

[Epona]

It turns out that my French is worse than it used to be, not practiced it in a while

I'm halfway through the first episode, it has good cinematography and is very atmospheric. I've probably understood about half of the dialogue, I need to go back and watch it again to pick up what I missed on the first attempt, there are some dialogue-heavy parts at the beginning and I didn't catch all of it.

I'd be delighted if this was subbed, but in the meantime it's a good excuse to practice my extremely rusty language skills!

 

[Reno]

Looks like it's a spin off from this rather excellent film from 2004:

 

[paolo]

It turns out that my French is worse than it used to be, not practiced it in a while

I'm halfway through the first episode, it has good cinematography and is very atmospheric. I've probably understood about half of the dialogue, I need to go back and watch it again to pick up what I missed on the first attempt, there are some dialogue-heavy parts at the beginning and I didn't catch all of it.

I'd be delighted if this was subbed, but in the meantime it's a good excuse to practice my extremely rusty language skills!

There was a bit about halfway through where there was a protracted bit of conversation with the young girl and her parents that I figured must have been significant but couldn't follow.

I might just plough on through. If they later release it with sub titles I can always rewatch.

Spoiler

Took me awhile for the butterfly to fall into place. What I *really* want to know is why the old man arsoned / murdered the woman then killed himself. And also what the murder in the subway was all about. Let me know if you figured out either of those bits.

 

[paolo]

Just found the website. I normally don't like these 'interactive' flash type things but it's really good. You can explore the different locations and characters. Has exactly the same haunting feel as the programme. (And all the imagery is mega res... looking at it in full HD and it's *mint*).

http://lesrevenants.canalplus.fr/

 

[stuff_it]

This looks well good. Apparently Mogwai were asked to score for it - Mogwai + Zombies, perfect match I think.

It's a new series from Canal+.

I dunno when/whether it'll be available with English subtitles. Though it's possible that the visceral nature of zombieness might make it watchable without fully following the dialogue. My basic French means I can only pickup snippets, but based on the first 10 mins I'm liking this. Nice photography helps.

First episode in full, it seems...



Given the success of zombie stuff of late, and that series like the Killing et al proving that British audiences can do subtitles, I hope a British channel is smart/bold enough to pick this up.

(e2a... now worked out it's not zombie stuff. It's people coming back from the dead.)

Damn you, I'm supposed to be doing maths!

 

[stuff_it]

There was a bit about halfway through where there was a protracted bit of conversation with the young girl and her parents that I figured must have been significant but couldn't follow.

I might just plough on through. If they later release it with sub titles I can always rewatch.

Spoiler

Took me awhile for the butterfly to fall into place. What I *really* want to know is why the old man arsoned / murdered the woman then killed himself. And also what the murder in the subway was all about. Let me know if you figured out either of those bits.

Spoiler

Not sure what the French is for 'kill it with fire'.

 

[paolo]

Damn you, I'm supposed to be doing maths!

Do you like it?

I'm smitten. I've just watched ep 2.

Take a big bowl, and shovel in some Twin Peaks atmospherics, Gregory Crewdson influenced photography, and a Mogwai soundtrack. Mix and then put in the fridge so it's chilling.

(patting myself on the head when there's dialogue I understand... but have to admit I'm still struggling. What did help was going through the character bios on the web site. I could understand most of them, just needed a bit of google translate help here and there)

*want* to know what's going on with the lake and dam. I find dams sinister things at the best of times. There's definitely something more happening out there - I think the dam operators said something about "it's not stopping".

 

[paolo]

Episode 2 in full.



It's a low res capture but still looks good.

 

[stuff_it]

Do you like it?

I'm smitten. I've just watched ep 2.

Take a big bowl, and shovel in some Twin Peaks atmospherics, Gregory Crewdson influenced photography, and a Mogwai soundtrack. Mix and then put in the fridge so it's chilling.

(patting myself on the head when there's dialogue I understand... but have to admit I'm still struggling. What did help was going through the character bios on the web site. I could understand most of them, just needed a bit of google translate help here and there)

*want* to know what's going on with the lake and dam. I find dams sinister things at the best of times. There's definitely something more happening out there - I think the dam operators said something about "it's not stopping".

Oh for sure, or what was the wildlife doing down there estivating.

 

[paolo]

Oh for sure, or what was the wildlife doing down there estivating.

"estivating"...very good. The last time I had to look up *english* words I didn't understand was watching the Leveson Inquiry.

But yeah,

Spoiler

there's something in title sequence that suggests maybe dead goats coming out of the lake

, one way or another the lake has more to offer up I'm sure.

 

[Mr Smin]

Started watching the 2004 film last night. Very good. As I don't speak even rudimentary french, I shall have to hope the TV show gets subbed into english.

 

[paolo]

I've discovered that Canal+ will be releasing the whole season on DVD on the 20th December (seems odd to do that before the broadcast run has finished, but maybe they do things differently there).

Unfortunately there's nothing to indicate that it will come with an English sub title option.

Knowing how slow rights negotiations can be, I think we could be in for a long wait unfortunately. Still, when it arrives, we'll be able to feel smug about "knowing about it first"

 

[donuts]

Hi everyone. Just a quick post to tell you that subtitles from episode 1 are available. Next ones will be available soon.
You can find those here http://www.sous-titres.eu/series/les_revenants.html or here : http://www.addic7ed.com/serie/Les_Revenants/1/1/Camille

 

[Greebo]

Hi everyone. Just a quick post to tell you that subtitles from episode 1 are available. Next ones will be available soon.
You can find those here http://www.sous-titres.eu/series/les_revenants.html or here : http://www.addic7ed.com/serie/Les_Revenants/1/1/Camille

Good to know, although I'll try to get it without subtitles - IME they're more of a distraction than a help.

 

[Reno]

Managed to find subtitles for this and I'm now on episode 4. Pretty good so far, though it has a much more narrow focus than the film its based on. In the film all those who died in the recent past come back at the same time, but here it's just a few. In the film re-integrating the dead into society becomes a major government crisis, while here hardly anybody knows about it. And the dead in the series are almost exactly like the living, unlike in the film where they are more remote and mysterios and where they have a sort of hive mentality.

However the show works on its own terms and is very good with coming up with mysteries you just want to know how they'll play out. And it's very stylish and atmospheric with a great score by Mogwai. Anybody on the lookout for a sci-fi/horror/genre show should check it out, even if it isn't really about zombies. It's about how those who have lost loved ones cope when getting them back. It's more like the classic horror story The Monkey's Paw than Night of the Living Dead: careful what you wish for.

 

[sim667]

This looks good, I might see if i can get hold of it with subs

 

[Reno]

Will be on Channel 4 this summer:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-03-19/channel-4-buys-french-supernatural-thriller-rebound

Just finished the whole series and loved it. Kind of thought it would never get shown here because it isn't a Danish murder mystery. Can't wait for season 2.

 

[belboid]

Kind of thought it would never get shown here because it isn't a Danish murder mystery.

Zombies have been hop for a while, seems typical BBC to get in, probably just as the trend comes to an end..... and it'll be fairly cheap.

 

[Reno]

Zombies have been hop for a while, seems typical BBC to get in, probably just as the trend comes to an end..... and it'll be fairly cheap.

It's Channel 4, who haven't bought a foreign language series in decades. It isn't really about zombies, though that will be the obvious way to market it. The living dead here are pretty much like normal people, they don't shuffle around, they don't rot and they don't eat people (apart from one who tries but he is a cannibal serial killer who comes back from the dead and continues where he left off). It feels closer to a ghost story and it was adapted from a film which preceded the current zombie craze.

 

[belboid]

doh! I just saw the Radio Times bit, and forogt it had been listing other channels for at least twenty years

 

[Epona]

Looking forward to this being shown on telly with subtitles!

Spotted on the C4 website just now that their page for it (which currently contains no info - bah) is titled "The Returned" rather than "Rebound" which was the title they previously indicated they were going to use.

 

[stavros]

Will be on Channel 4 this summer:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-03-19/channel-4-buys-french-supernatural-thriller-rebound

Brilliant, always good to have opportunity to practice my listening.

The Mogwai album is superb by the way, even though it has one sung track on it which is weird. It sounds a bit like Spiritualized, which is no bad thing, but a bit unnerving for Mogwai.

 

[Reno]

Looking forward to this being shown on telly with subtitles!

Spotted on the C4 website just now that their page for it (which currently contains no info - bah) is titled "The Returned" rather than "Rebound" which was the title they previously indicated they were going to use.

I like The Returned better. "Rebound" sounds like it should star Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.

 

[Part 2]

Starting June 9th

 

[mystic pyjamas]

Even the adverts will be in French !

 

[T & P]

I can't stop hearing good things about this. Looking foward to it

Spoiler-free review of first ep here: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-returned/25828/the-returned-spoiler-free-episode-1-review