Better than the overcooked turkey on Christmas Eve or the stuffy candied chestnuts at the end of the meal, the delicious top 10 series of 20 Minutes is ready to be enjoyed. An end-of-year ritual that smells like binge-watching, ideal to help you overcome the liver crisis of December 26 and January 1. A look back at a year 2023 rich in French series, news items and biopics.
In 2023, French fiction has drawn on extraordinary criminal cases. The extraordinary Money and Bloodby Xavier Giannoli, dissects the gigantic carbon quota scam, Sambreby Jean Xavier de Lestrade, looks back on the Dino Scala affair who raped around fifty women for more than thirty years on the banks of the Sambre river, Everything for Agnes is interested in the Agnelet affair, Tapie on Netflix remakes the portrait of the famous French businessman. Comedies and dramas have dotted the editorial tops: Polar Parkthe crazy fiction by Gérald Hustache-Mathieu, the sublime Everything is fineby Camille de Castelnau, the rejoicing In placeby Jean-Pascal Zadi.
Across the Atlantic, HBO has pulled out all the stops with the extraordinary survivalist series The Last of Usthe continuation and end of Successionthe gritty family saga of Jesse Armstrong, the very sexy and controversial The Idol by Sam Levinson. The year was of course marked by the arrival of great filmmakers on the small screen. Xavier Dolan and his magnificent The Night Laurier Gaudreault Woke UpMarco Bellocchio and the highly acclaimed Exterior Night, Cédric Klapisch and his Greek salad, and obviously, the slightly less assertive Nicolas Bedos – recently accused of sexual assault and rape – who discreetly came out Alphonse on Amazon Prime Video. Place in the top 10.
The top 10 from the editorial staff of “20 Minutes”
1. The Last of Us
2. Successionsaison 4
3. Of money and blood
4. The Night where Laurier Gaudreault woke up
5. Polar Park
6. The Crown
7. Beckham
8. Sex Educationsaison 4
9. In place
10. Ted Lasso season 3 and The Bear equally
To complete the table, here is the ranking of journalists from the Culture department of 20 Minutes and their favorite series.
Benjamin Chapon’s top 10: 1. The Last of Us ; 2. The Diplomat ; 3. Ted Lassosaison 3 ; 4. Ahsoka5. One Piece ; 6. Planet Cunk ; 7. Lessons in Chemistry ; 8. Of money and blood ; 9. Successionsaison 4 ; 10. The Resort
His favorite: The Last of Us, on the Warner pass of Amazon Prime Video
Sometimes we have to face the facts: everyone dreams of a beautiful zombie apocalypse; The Last of Us is undoubtedly the series of the year because it responds to this unfulfilled desire for a world which is finally coming to an end. This time the zombie threat is born from a super-invasive fungus-parasite, but regardless, it’s still a metaphor for nature’s revenge against humans. Blockbuster with exceptional images and staging, The Last of Us allows you to travel into a world of chaos with, as a bonus, a heartbreaking story, and a lesson: to save humanity, you must first save your own humanity. Starting by taking care of the people we love and those who need it. Well, plus the zombies are super cool.
Fabien Randanne’s top 10 : 1. The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up ; 2. Sambre ; 3. The Fall of House Usher ; 4. Only Murders in the Buildingsaison 3 ; 5. Heartstoppersaison 2 ; 6. Polar Park ; 7. An almost normal family ; 8. The little girl in the snow ; 9. Everything Now ; 10. Master Crimes
His favorite: The night Laurier Gaudreault woke upon Canal+
What if the masterpiece of Xavier Dolan, recently retired from directing, was not a film but this series? From my point of view, this is the case: the serial format, in five episodes, leaves him complete freedom to explore the themes that are dear to him (family resentments, unsaid things, difficulty in communicating, oppression, guilt…), dig into the psychology of the characters and let your aesthetic impulses flourish freely. This adaptation of the play by Michel Marc Bouchard takes up the codes of the thriller but, gradually, as the fog and the mysteries dissipate, reveals all its tragic character. Anne Dorval, once again, is imperial, overwhelming.
Clio Weickert’s top 10 : 1. Everything is fine ; 2. The Night Laurier Gaudreault Woke Up ; The last of Us ; The Crownsaison 6 ; Icon of french cinema ; Killer Coaster ; Sex Educationsaison 4 ; Lupinsaison 2 ; Luxury, the factory of dreams ; Girls of Fire
His favorite: Everything is fineavailable on Disney+
Rarely has a series made us laugh as much as cry. However, the starting pitch is really nothing funny. The eight episodes immerse us in the daily life of little Rose, suffering from leukemia, and her family torn between fatalism and hope. Everyone goes in their own way to fight the unjust and the unheard: a grandmother (Nicole Garcia) drowned by optimism, an aunt (Virginie Efira) devoted to the point of losing herself, a mother (Sara Giraudeau ) asphyxiated by sadness… And against all expectations, the designer Camille de Castelnau (The legends office) manages to instill the humor necessary to see the drama in a completely different light and accurately point out the absurdity of life. We are also struck by the delicacy of the characters, their modesty and their silences, as sweet as they are heartbreaking. Go ahead with your eyes closed: “Everything is fine.”
Laure Beaudonnet’s top 10 : 1. Of money and blood ; 2. The Last of Us ; 3. The Night Laurier Gaudreault Woke Up ; 4. Everything is fine ; 5. Successionsaison 4 ; 6. The Idol ; 7. Starstrucksaison 3 ; 8. Sambre ; 9. Irresistible ; 10. Gen V
His favorite: Of money and bloodavailable on Canal+
With Of money and blood, Xavier Giannoli, more accustomed to the seventh art than the small screen, achieves an impressive wide gap between novelistic power and popularization of an ultra-complex fraud. Inspired by the eponymous investigative book by Mediapart journalist Fabrice Arfi, the series tells how two small-time scammers from the Belleville district – Fitous (Ramzy Bedia) and Bouli (David Ayala) – managed to pull off “the scam of the century” with the help of a trader from the beautiful Parisian neighborhoods (Niels Schneider). From the credits, the production permeates the mind and unfolds a hypnotic aesthetic. We are witnessing a twelve-hour feature film carried by actors, each more embodied than the last. Of money and blood is certainly the best French serial offering since The Legends Office. And from a long way away.
2023-12-17 00:25:19
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