Since November 30, France 2 has been broadcasting In the shadows, Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. Co-written by Édouard Philippe and Gilles Boyer, this series takes place over six episodes and tells the story of the presidential campaign seen by a shadowy advisor. Paul Francoeur, performed by Melvil Poupaudis a candidate in the right-wing primary. He faces Marie-France Trémaux, played by Karine Viard. Behind the scenes of this electoral battle are told by César Casalonga, the man in the shadow of Paul Francoeur and played by Swann Arlaud.
This series is inspired by the book, written by the former Prime Minister and former MEP in 2011 and which bears the same name. It is part of a long line of series which lift the veil behind the scenes of French political life.
Are these series inspired by real events? Are the French fond of it? And do we know how to tell the underside of political life on television? Spoiler alert : this article and this podcast episode Find out everything about reveal key elements about the plot of certain series.
The “In the Shadows” series, inspired by real events?
According to Isabelle Morini-Bosc, TV journalist at RTL, this series broadcast on France 2 is “impactful”. “We can't tell if the main character, Paul Francoeur, is sympathetic or unsympathetic. This is also the characteristic of a political animal,” she explains.
Advised by Édouard Philippe, Melvil Poupaud recounts, on RTL, the advice given by the former prime minister. “He told me that you have to make everyone you meet feel specialto have a moment, that you will be remembered and that you are important to the politician. That you should not hesitate to touch people, to be quite tactile,” he explains. He nevertheless specifies that it was “not his intention” to resemble him.
Isabelle Morini-Bosc adds that Édouard Philippe provided advice “on looks and on little sentences and dialogues”. “There are certain meetings filmed in this series where we find sentences from Édouard Philippe (…) I recognized at least four or five sentences from speeches by the former prime minister.”explain
“Black Baron” and “Parlement”: 2 series and 2 different styles
Another cult political series: Black Baron, on Canal+. The first season was released in 2016 and anticipated political events that occurred a few years later.
The series Parliamentshe distinguished herself by a different style, with a humorous tone. “What I liked is that it's about the adaptation of something, a priori, totally unadaptable. It's happening in the European Parliament, I don't know if that excites anyone, idea of going to visit the European Parliament… But frankly, it's annoying (…) It's absurd, but that's what happens very often in reality“, continues Isabelle Morini-Bosc.
Our top 3 political series to catch up on
“First, for me, it is The Legends Office. I learned thousands of things and above all, it shows that, no, they are not all rotten. Second series: The castle. This Danish series shows the impact of the media. Politics does not exist without media, media does not exist without politics. And for the third series, I recommend At the White House or The West Wing, in English. Everyone should watch this series with actor Martin Sheen.
>> Everything you need to know about… is a daily current affairs podcast. From Monday to Friday, the RTL editorial team explains everything you need to know about a major current event (economy, politics, environment, society, culture), with RTL reporters, correspondents and experts.
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