Le Bazar de la Charité

A very entertaining series with three women leading the way, with, of course, the usual men-and occasional woman- getting in the way. Do not confuse the story with the real fire of history, or any of the characters with real people. The plot devices are soapy but most of them work due to the great acting, script and cinematography.

The one plot line that just doesn't work because it's so transparently bad is the one with the woman whose face is partially burned but hardly enough to disfigure her or disguise her. Her use of a thin see through veil is a joke, and she should have been given a mask, but I'm guessing that the actress and the Director didn't want her hidden from us. So we're to believe "they" can't recognize her while we can. Voila!

First of all I have to say that I have no criticism, whatsoever, of this series. I am a student of the French Language so I recommend watching it in French with sub-titles, as watching it dubbed loses more than half of the atmosphere.

This is a fictional tale set in the aftermath of a genuine event of 1897 when there was a huge and terrible fire at a charity event in Paris which claimed the lives of 125 people, most of whom were aristocratic ladies. The story revolves around the lives of three women who survived the fire: one unscathed but affected, one badly burnt and disfigured and one who is uninjured but................well! Wait and see.

The drama is set in Paris in 1897 and the producers have done a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the city and the era, the attitudes of the people and the relationships between the different sociopolitical groups. The dramatic pace of the series is well maintained and there is a certain degree of "cliffl hanger" at the end of each episode, to the extent that I will admit that I was forced to "binge" watch it.

The plot is relatively simple but with a few twists and turns in a rather "Dickensian" fashion which results in a nice classical structure of having a beginning, a middle and an end. However, it is not without some excitement and a fair amount of tension. OK! So some will say that the ending is predictable, so what! I loved it.

The "18" rating is totally unjustified and the description "strong sex" has obviously been applied by a Sunday School teacher who has yet to experience sex of any kind. There is, perhaps, a view of one or two female bottoms & one nipple. but that's all, although there is some rather tender, and carefully edited, lovemaking.

I rate this as a thoroughly entertaining piece of drama, well worth watching. It is well acted and extremely well produced with good scenery and atmosphere. Overall I was left feeling happy and glad I'd watched it.

The first episode had such an effect on me. Once the fire starts I couldn't look away. It's terrifying and you can sense their fear. The fact that this really happened is so sad. Some scenes are extremely hard to watch, but it's well done. The men are infuriating, especially those at the charity bizarre!

As an intermediate French student, it's really difficult to find interesting content that is easy enough to understand: This series is perfect. Watch it in the original French with French subtitles turned on (happily an option with Netflix). The speech is fairly clear, not too fast and not heavily accented.

The beautiful costumes, set design and cinematography in this historical drama make up for the fairly predictable plot and uninspired acting. Compared to the mindless dialogues contained in most French language courses, this is a truly entertaining step up.

I watched this because my favourite French actress, Audrey Fleurot stars in it and she's magnificent as the tormented flame haired heroine Adrienne. However, all the cast are fantastic, the period detail and costuming excellent and the horrific fire scene in the first episode, which happens in real time, devastating, upsetting and thrilling all at once. The story is a fin de ciecle tale of the rich and the poor set in Paris and filmed in some the most beautiful houses I have ever seen on film. The story is a "page turner", well paced, gripping and with characters you care about. I wanted all the women whose stories are told after the dreadful fire, to have happy endings. If you are looking for a French "Downton Abbey" this may be a bit gory and there are a few tasteful sex scenes although minimal nudity. The 18 certificate is presumably for the injury detail after the inferno, which is pretty grim. I watched the whole 8 episodes in two sittings. Recommended for anyone who likes bodice ripping historical drama although this series did have a feminist twist, most of the men either being weak or hissably villainous! Overall, extremely good Gallic drama with very high production values. 9 out of 10.