Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Ava-Grace Willis
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Lucia Ayala
It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Joel Rane
There are two great Maigret adaptations available online or in DVDs from the 1990s, the British version done by Granada for two seasons in 1992, starring Michael Gambon, and the Dune French version that lasted from 1991 until 2005 with Bruno Cremer. Both have strong qualities, although in many ways they are completely opposite. Gambon's Maigret is affable, poetic, emotional, sympathetic, and works in close concert with his men; his Paris (Budapest) is sunny and bright. Cremer's Maigret is taciturn and intense, preferring to wait silently while people reveal themselves, riding his men hard at times, especially the often incompetent officers he encounters outside of Paris; and his Paris (Prague) is always gray or pitch black, dark wet streets, his pipe glowing. In many ways the visual look of the shows are opposite, with the British series relying more on the romance and nostalgia of Paris, while the French series is a showcase for the dark psychological mysteries of Simenon. The French series hews more closely to the original stories, and also has the advantage of the episodes being 30 minutes longer; it is also a more complete canon, with nearly 5 times as many stories. In the Gambon series, Gambon is more pleasant, his men work with him as a clever team, and we see much more of Mme. Maigret, who appears in nearly every episode, but the humor and the characterizations are typically British, which can be somewhat disconcerting. The Cremer Maigret varies in quality with the directors, but he is almost always brilliant, playing his hunches and guiding his investigations with a deep psychology that truly honors the original Simenon novels. And it goes almost without saying, the French version pulls no punches and has a much darker way of exploring aspects of the French character that the heart of Simenon; Cremer spends a lot of time listening to people and asks questions which seem strange but reveal hidden truths. Gambon's Maigret does more of the talking and seems to succeed more through luck and teamwork, which may be failings of the shorter format and the transition from French to English storytelling. I'm fond of them both, but the Cremer Maigret is one of my favorite television programs, with plenty to love, at over 75 hours. It is also possible to watch the Cremer Maigret's over and over, picking out new clues and details, but there is no such depth to Gambon's Maigret.
hrbuildingblocks
Yes the sets and costumes are great/historically appropriate, and yes Michael Gambon is a good actor, BUT the BRITISHNESS of this 1992 series, is almost too much...very very strong English regional accents are at odds with the supposed French setting. The acting is actually a bit plodding too, despite the good actors. Perhaps this is a faulty script/direction, but I can't see how the 1992 series got so popular..perhaps it was the BRits watching other Brits and who cares about authenticity of accent or pacing of plot line/direction. Have seen Gambon in many movies, series and even he cannot completely 'save' this from being a bit underwhelming.,..and a bit boring...
jjb-9
Having read most of the short and long Maigret stories and seen a number of Bruno Cremer's version (French with subtitles), I had looked forward to this version if only because it did not require me to read subtitles. But I was very disappointed.Essentially, the BBC has transformed Maigret into a hard-boiled British detective with none of the subtlety of Georges Simenon's French detective. Of course they take liberties with the stories, and this is normal and to be expected with TV / movie dramatizations of books, but the dialog is very disappointing and not at all the Maigret of Simenon.It's not terrible, but Michael Gambon's Maigret is not good either. Better to obtain and watch the Bruno Cremer version, even though it requires you know French or read subtitles.
john-3939
This is a splendid series which I have recently obtained on DVD. Memories of when I first watched it seventeen years ago have come flooding back. But so did the irritation over one particular episode - Series 1 Ep 4. Maigret returns to his home village on All Souls Day (2nd November) a day when a priest is allowed to offer three Masses. Here the priest for a requiem Mass is dressed not in black vestments (appropriate for Masses of the dead in the 1950's) but in green vestments and not vestments for a priest but those of a deacon. When so much authenticity is captured in a production it was a pity that woeful ignorance of simple ecclesiastical matters was allowed to have such free rein. If those concerned in production are unsure about church customs then it is usually easy to find out for certain. But, all in all, a great series - delightful to watch and I give it 8 out of 10.
