Privilege of the “old”, I spent my whole afternoon yesterday watching the new saga based on the work of Robert Merle “Fortune de France” and its volume 1, therefore the six episodes of the first season…. Because the original novel has 13 volumes!
A series of great classicism, with natural settings and quite remarkable costumes, very much in the style of the public service. A religious problem that can be transposed with contemporary political struggles, which shows the absurdity religious warssuch as tore apart the kingdom of France in the 16th century.
And then, the cherry on the cake, the filming locations are largely familiar to me. The first scene of the first episode takes place in the courtyard of the Biron Castle15 km from my home… then, we recognize in turn – it is indeed the case to say it – the fortresses of Borries, Beynac, Marzac, Commarque and Fénelon.
I have Robert Merle’s books in my library, but I hadn’t read them. The discovery of the history of this family of intolerant believers was therefore total. But we must place ourselves in the problematic of the time, so difficult to understand for today’s youth.
This is a beautiful piece of television work. Not as great as Josée Dayan’s films, but almost. The casting is effective: the knight then baron of Siorac (Nicolas Duvauchelle), his brother in arms and manager of the estate Jean de Sauveterre (Guillaume Gouix), the intrepid wife Isabelle (the Catholic, naturally), the three sons, the companions and the servants and finally the felonious but Catholic lord, played by Grégory Fitoussi, who dreams only of seizing the Siorac fiefdom for his beloved daughter.
I have read some harsh criticism of the production, which was deemed too academic… I believe that many viewers will follow this historical saga in 6 episodes with interest, and will impatiently await the filming of the sequel… perhaps they will buy the books to learn about it sooner…
One last detail: the production is being done by Christopher Thomson, son of screenwriter and director Danielle Thomson and grandson of Gérard Oury. He was born into the inner circle… Blood will tell.
Fortune de France, season 1 – French series in 6 episodes by Christopher Thomson, based on the novel by Robert Merle. On Antenne 2 and streaming on FranceTV.
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