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[Vultural]

Paris Police 1905 - 2022 - France

Paris Police 1905 - 2022 - 6/10
 

 
Five years have passed since Paris Police 1900, yet the brutality of the 15th century endures.
Where the first outing wrestled with huge issues, the Dreyfus Affair, street riots, attempts to undermine stability, this focuses on bodily functions.
Prostitution, sodomy, syphilis, perverts, inverts, quack cures, who does what to who, and who photographs the deeds.
The themes are simply not as compelling.
Chances are, this would have carried more weight 40 years ago – and it never would have been made.
Acting and direction are stellar, lavish sets, gloomy cinematography, stark tone.

[Vultural]

A Very British Scandal - 2021 - UK

A Very British Scandal - 2021 - 7/10
 

 
How very unpleasant.
Sordid breakup of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll in 1963.
She comes across as an insatiable narcissist, he an alcoholic financial sponge.
Both are extraordinarily repellent and crass.  Aristocratic white trash.
Acting is fierce and unsettling; one gathers the narrative is quasi-faithful.
Champions of women’s empowerment will be sorely vexed.
Margaret is hardly a role model, while the world she inhabits – it’s a man’s world.

[Vultural]

Good People - 2022 - Belgium

Good People - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Des Gens Bien
 

 
Their car skids off the road, hurtles downhill, explodes into flames.
Tom escapes, while Linda is burned beyond recognition.  And they had been very much in love.
What the hey, she had been insured to the max, which will come in handy for Tom.
Debt, huge debt, embarrassing obligations.
Almost everyone buys his version of events.  Almost.
Tom can barely keep his lies straight, his anxiety is soaring, while the sexual blackmail is best left unmentioned.
Extremely funny murder series lacks complete closure (producers gambled for a S02 and lost), yet any viewer with a passable IQ should be able to stitch this up.

[Vultural]

Spy/Master - 2023 - Romania

Spy/Master - 2023 - 6/10
 

 
Romanian Dictator Ceausescu's right-hand, Victor Godeanu, needs to defect.
Long a KGB sleeper agent, Romanian security is beginning to out him.
Bad timing.  Washington, transfixed by the 1978 Camp David talks refuses to commit itself.
Instead, Godeanu is left with a devious and inexperienced CIA handler.
A Romanian series, this steers a wary course.
The US is distracted, Soviet Union formidable, Romanian Intelligence relentless.
Decent espionage thriller, based loosely on Ion Mihai Pacepa, parts are better than the whole.

[Vultural]

A Very English Scandal - 2018 - UK

A Very English Scandal - 2018 - 7/10  
 

 
Early 1960’s, Lib-Dem party leader, Jeremy Thorpe initiates an affair Norman Scott.
As with almost all romantic relationships, it comes to a sloppy end.
Jeremy, however reckless, is highly ambitious, and Norman, well, he is emotionally unstable.
He needs his National Employment card for work and health benefits.
Homosexual laws and stigma informs this brief series, but do not be put off.
This is extraordinary funny!  Especially by E02, where Mr Thorpe tries to murder the pesky Norman.
Casting is top notch, the script razor sharp.
Based closely on real events and persons (stick for those credits); truth better than fiction.

[Vultural]

Murder In Provence - 2022 - UK

Murder In Provence - 2022 - 6/10
 

 
The Brits borrow a page from the seemingly endless flow of French mysteries.
Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll play the prosecutor and forensic whatever, investigating deaths around Aix.
The countryside is nicely displayed, the murders have clever trails, numerous suspects.
The investigating couple are already an “item”, so there are no silly romantic sparks.
Dry humor pervades, and this is fine for fans of cozy.
For all this, the brief series could just as easily have been set in the Cotswolds.