France 2 is releasing its event series of the new school year. A superb period family saga that plunges us into the heart of the religious war, in 16th century Périgord.
By LV
ForCinema-TV-Review
After “Daughters of Fire” and its dubious witches from the Basque Country, France 2 is back with a romantic fresco drawn directly from the great history of its lands. Superbly illustrated, ” Fortune of France », to be continued from Monday, presents itself as a detailed and exciting reconstruction of the dark period of the wars of religion, based on the first volume of the family saga by Robert Merle.
It all begins in the wild and sinister Périgord Noir, in 1557. Behind the ramparts of the Château de Fénelon, renamed Château de Mespech, the Siorac family fights for its survival and its convictions. Jean, the father, played by the good Nicolas Duvauchelle (“Cœurs noirs”), is forced to reconnect with violence to defend his ideal. Isabelle, the mother, played by the Belgian actress Lucie Debay (“Nos batailles”), uses her courage and freedom of conscience to exist in a world where men make the law. In the middle of this couple who strive to find the way for their love to survive: Pierre and François, the sons, enter adulthood abruptly, torn, like their country, between the Protestant faith of their father and the Catholic fervor of their mother.
It is therefore far from Paris and the court, in the intimacy of a home of lords prey to betrayals and massacres, that we are this time told of the France of yesterday, which always finds a surprising echo in the great concerns of today. The series takes us back to ever-burning topics: the place of women in society, class conflicts, religious fanaticism, epidemics, mass violence, the progress of science and communication versus conspiracy theories and obscurantism. “, defend the producers, who aspire above all to deliver a message of tolerance. It is about showing, with raw pragmatism and an epic breath, the humanity of beings who, despite the troubles of the times and the misfortunes of everyday life, still fight to invent a better life. »
Western influences
How to remain faithful to one’s beliefs and values, without falling into barbarism? This is the whole dilemma faced by the characters of “Fortune de France”, bathed in a fierce intolerance that will spread over four unfortunate decades. A cruel world where fear of the other reigns, deliberately redesigned with the codes of the western, the sublime landscapes of the Dordogne evoking the great virgin spaces that remain to be cleared, while the provincial castle of Mespech “ recalls the besieged fort often evoked in films depicting the mythology of the conquest of the West “, explains director and screenwriter Christopher Thompson, who already directed the biopic “Bardot”. Also, ” Siorac and Sauveterre (Guillaume Gouix) are two men of war aspiring to peace who find themselves rejected into the camp of the outlaws when the power declares their religion outlawed, forcing them to take up arms again to defend themselves. » against the troops of the ruthless Baron de Fontenac, played by Grégory Fitoussi (“Sous le soleil”, “Engrenages”).
Conceived as a chronicle made to last (season 2 is already being written), the series, supported by the meticulous research work of Baptiste Roger-Lacan, doctor of history, and entirely filmed in a natural setting, also aims to be a realistic dive into the past of a community of lords and servants. The relations between nobles and non-nobles are not at all the same as at Versailles. “, says Nicolas Duvauchelle, who received the prize for best actor at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival for his role. People are much closer, they know each other and mix with each other. This rural side, which we don’t often see in historical films, is very interesting to relate. »
While you may have to hang on a little at the beginning, the first episode (six in all) being talkative and rather long in placing its pawns, the immersion is total and successful, thanks in particular to the filming locations, which are also those of the story, here very well filmed; and to the acting, convincing in their old-fashioned costumes. It remains to be seen how the sauce will take later!
“Fortune de France”, to be continued on France 2.
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