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French language films and television

iPlayer

Spiral - series: eight seasons - 'There's no one idea of justice. Laure Berthaud and her team of detectives face the brutal world of organised crime, and none will remain unscathed. Dark, unsettling French drama.'

What can I say? Loved this. Not a traditional police procedural where cops are all good guys catching the bad guys, it's a bit more complex than that, this team of non-uniformed detectives bend and break rules. It's not just a cop show though, it's also part legal/courtroom drama, and that insight into the French inquisitive judicial system (as opposed to our adversarial one) is interesting, and how the judiciary and cops approach the cases is interesting.

The final season has just aired. I'll miss it.
 
All 4 / Walter

Sakho & Mangane - series: one season - 'Analytical detective Sakho and brash cop Mangane make a dysfunctional duo in this crime series from Senegal that explores the tension that occurs when ancient tradition and unstoppable modernity meet.'

Watched this late last year, enjoyed it, especially because I hadn't seen anything like this set in Senegal before, or any other African country for that matter, so I found the insight into Senegalese culture interesting. Thought the two cops were a bit stereotype/caricature-ish, older set in his ways guy, partnered up with a young maverick is a bit of a cliche. Liked that they have a woman boss.
 
Netflix

Lupin - series: one season to date - ' Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, gentleman thief Assane Diop sets out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family.'

So good. Really enjoyed this, loved the humour of it (the star is also a comedian in France). It kind of reminded me a bit of The Thomas Crown Affair (Renee Russo and Pierce Brosnan remake), with the style and panache alongside some tongue in cheek stuff, and how it's not intended to be about a 'big bang' violent heist, it's more about deception, trickery and illusion, plus the evidential aspect isn't just about 'dry facts' forensic evidence, but also the intellectual mind games, the cat and mouse aspect.

Felt like season one was over too soon, would've dived in and binged watched plenty more. Season two has already been filmed and is expected to air mid-2021.
 
Netflix

Call My Agent - series: four seasons in total - ' Parisian talent agents struggle to keep their famous clients happy and their business afloat.'

One of those series with sort of very human, relatable, characters, in that they aren't either good or bad, they're all a bit good and a bit bad, all complex characters, flawed human beings. Some quite witty repartee. There's lots of office politics, competitiveness, and complex relationships between the characters. And of course there's the star element - each episode has a cameo by a well-known star, playing fictionalised versions of themselves, some you won't have heard of as their success is more domestic, but others who have a high profile internationally: Audrey Fleurot (Joséphine Karlsson in Spiral), Isabelle Adjani, Juliette Binoche, Monica Bellucci, Sigourney Weaver and Jean Reno; they seem quite happy to send themselves up.
 
Netflix

Family Business - series: two seasons - 'After learning France is about to legalize pot, a down-on-his-luck entrepreneur and his family race to turn their butcher shop into a marijuana café.'

I've recently watched Lupin and Call My Agent, both brilliant, so I've just searched for French language stuff and found this, two seasons, six episodes per season, only around 30 minutes per episodes. Was thinking it might be a quick, easy and amusing watch. Thoughts?
 
Les Revenants (The Returned) is an obvious one, the first series especially. Maybe not great for learners of the language, as there's relatively little dialogue. Very well shot though, and with a cracking Mogwai soundtrack. It was on C4/More4, but isn't on their iplayer.

I also remember really liking Les Hommes de l'Ombre (Spin, as it was lazily translated to in English). I think that was a More4 one too.
 
stavros said:
Les Revenants (The Returned) is an obvious one, the first series especially. Maybe not great for learners of the language, as there's relatively little dialogue. Very well shot though, and with a cracking Mogwai soundtrack. It was on C4/More4, but isn't on their iplayer.

I also remember really liking Les Hommes de l'Ombre (Spin, as it was lazily translated to in English). I think that was a More4 one too.
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Yes, I loved Les Revenants/The Returned. And I loved Mogwai music too.

I'm not sure whether I saw season two. I remember feeling a bit cheated that there weren't any more. But looking it up, it seemed that there was a more than two year gap between seasons one and two.

Or maybe I saw both seasons, but felt cheated there weren't any more?

I recall feeling really intrigued and really into it and wanting to know more about what was going on and what was the answer to the mysterious goings on, but feeling unfulfilled - and a little bit annoyed, tbh, to have been cheated out of an ending.

It looks like it's on Prime now. I might check it out again, thanks for the reminder.

And, yes, loved Les Hommes de l'Ombre (Spin) too. That struck me as a French Borgen. It wasn't a remake, like The Bridge (original Danish/Swedish) was copied by The Tunnel (French/English) and The Bridge (US/Mexico), more like it was just the same kind of genre, political drama, spin behind the scenes, media connections and coverage. And I preferred Danish political series Borgen - which is also on Netflix and has a new season coming up soon.

Tbh, I can't remember much of Spin, other than Gregory Fitoussi was in it, and he was in Spiral too.
 
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LynnDoyleCooper said:
The Bureau, excellent series about the DGSE, highly recommend it.

Black Spot on Netflix was also quite good.

I'm trying to learn French, so I'm 'studying' when watching this stuff as well.
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I came across a mention somewhere else about The Bureau, thanks for the reminder. Looks like that's on Prime too. I might sign up in a month or so, temporarily, just to binge-watch any and all French stuff on Prime.

I'll look up Black Spot on Netflix too, cheers.

I know there are some movies, too, which I have in my watch list.
 
Another vote for The Bureau. I binged that last year. Binged Spiral recently (whole thing on BBC), also really good, finds its feet around series 2-3.

I liked Call My Agent but the final series was a bit of let-down. They tried to tie everything up at the end, which doesn't make for the best drama.

Lupin was ok. Kind of silly, but engaging characters, and doesn't shy away from some sharp comments about racism in France. Annoying that they just released half a series, though. Not quite bingeworthy yet.
 
The Last Wave (La Dernière Vague) is still on the iplayer. It's a bit like Les Revenants, in terms of weird shit happening to a small community, but they're by the beach and everyone's much better looking.

I seem to remember the first preview of Spin I read described it as a French version of The Thick Of It, which couldn't be much further from the truth.
 
Amazon Prime: Felicità - Surreal comedy about family and what it means, hard to describe but worth a watch. Some fab acting from the kid and adults
 
The Italian song "felicità" (happiness) is very well known i France/Germany and probably other countries

 
I watched Groom recently, a sitcom about the staff at a hotel. I watched it with French subtitles to aid my listening. I'm not sure comedy fully translates if you're not fluent in the language. It's available in full on You Tube.
 
Torn. on all4, found it earlier today. Pretty young woman moves with her family from Paris to Provence....a sexually charged drama. Watched 2 hours straight which is unusual for us. Perfect lock down stuff.
www.theguardian.com

A bath for your brain: why French drama Torn is perfect pandemic TV

I was unmoved by the Provençal thriller when I first saw it, but it landed on All4 at a time when absurd escapism is needed
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
We went on to watch the next episode of Torn. Gripping and intense :thumbs:
AnnO'Neemus I don't know what you are looking for or why, but you could take a look through the list here. Walter Presents - Wikipedia I remember seeing some Canadian stuff in French.
To help with learning Italian, we have a fair few Italian DVDs, which are subtitled. Mrs Tag also seeks out Italian television via our Roku box and listens to a lot of Italian radio. I am sure you could do the same with French.
 
Great thread idea. Thank you.

I‘ve been trying to find good French stuff on Prime and Netflix. It isn’t helped by living in Spain. Hopefully suggestions here will help.
 
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