This is one of the more satisfying episodes of Bruno Cremer's tenure as the television Maigret of the 1990s and 2000s. As in the majority of episodes that I have been able to access via a French DVD library, there is no 'action' as such. Someone - in this case a female fortune teller - is killed off screen and Maigret and his team step in to solve the puzzle.It is a cliché that most killings are motivated by sex or money, and sometimes both, and so it is here. An elaborate plot involves a wife not so much hiring as more or less kidnapping a man with learning difficulties and a problem with alcohol, to trade on his likeness to her late husband in order to keep on receiving regular payments which ceased, of course, with the husband's death. The story keeps you guessing, the acting is up to snuff, what more do you want from a teleplay.
3 Reviews
Maigret has trouble - with the producer & director!
Tony-Holmes10 April 2024
Saw this on the Talking Pictures channel, UK older films and TV. They showed the entire collection of the Rupert Davies Maigret episodes (BBC, early 60s) and are now showing this quirky, slow-paced French one (90s) with subtitles. We've also seen the ITV versions with Gambon in the lead (12 episodes, excellent, 1990s), and the less successful Rowan Atkinson attempts (2014, 15, or so?).
The atmosphere is very French, lots of slow thoughtful looks, and Maigret wastes few words, which fits with the books, as does the actor's rather lumbering figure. And there are subtitles, doubtless annoying for some, but done quite well.
No real complaints re the lead portrayal, except that in the books he does crack the odd joke, and has some repartee with faithful R-H man Lucas. In this however, Lucas hardly ever appears, not even mentioned in most episodes, which is STRANGE - I cannot recall a book without him featuring in some way!
This story is quite complex, with a variety of characters, some mysterious behaviour, and some incompetent members of Maigret's team.
As reviewer Whalen states (accurate as ever) this story is let down by the ending.
The Davies version covered it in HALF the time, and told the tale much better, without any sudden surprise revelations that the director was in too much of a hurry to show properly!
Here the acting is good (as usual), but I see no reason for a leisurely stroll through the first 70% of the episode, then a frantic disjointed sprint the rest of the way?!
Gradually Maigret, as usual, plods about and eventually discerns what happened, even though his belated seeing the light was largely kept from us!
I find it especially irritating that his team is radically different from the books I've read. It's a grating annoyance that Lucas, almost a constant in the books, hardly ever appears in this version -- WHAT did he do?!
The atmosphere is very French, lots of slow thoughtful looks, and Maigret wastes few words, which fits with the books, as does the actor's rather lumbering figure. And there are subtitles, doubtless annoying for some, but done quite well.
No real complaints re the lead portrayal, except that in the books he does crack the odd joke, and has some repartee with faithful R-H man Lucas. In this however, Lucas hardly ever appears, not even mentioned in most episodes, which is STRANGE - I cannot recall a book without him featuring in some way!
This story is quite complex, with a variety of characters, some mysterious behaviour, and some incompetent members of Maigret's team.
As reviewer Whalen states (accurate as ever) this story is let down by the ending.
The Davies version covered it in HALF the time, and told the tale much better, without any sudden surprise revelations that the director was in too much of a hurry to show properly!
Here the acting is good (as usual), but I see no reason for a leisurely stroll through the first 70% of the episode, then a frantic disjointed sprint the rest of the way?!
Gradually Maigret, as usual, plods about and eventually discerns what happened, even though his belated seeing the light was largely kept from us!
I find it especially irritating that his team is radically different from the books I've read. It's a grating annoyance that Lucas, almost a constant in the books, hardly ever appears in this version -- WHAT did he do?!
"Tomorrow, at five in the afternoon, I will kill . . ."
garywhalen16 March 2024
George Simenon's novel "Signed, Picpus" is great fun to read with the twists and turns, the nooks and crannies, of a "structured" murder mystery. It's one of those "things are not as they seem" stories with a gradual unfolding of facts, motives, and connections. This episode (my DVD set has it titled "To Any Length") remains true to the plot and for that I enjoyed it.
One issue--a frustration, really--I have with the film is the rushed ending. The last third of the film needs to cover a lot and so things are skimmed or facts told that lack a buildup and a discovery by Maigret and his team and by us the viewers. This episode begins well enough. A man says he has information that claims a fortune teller will be killed in the afternoon. Well, there are lots of fortune tellers in Paris, so where might Maigret begin? And, no surprise to the viewer, soon there is a murdered fortune teller. How did the man learn ahead of time what was to happen? And is his story believable? All he has is a story of a blotter that reflects a written note--written apparently at a café--that mentions the planned killing and it's signed "Picpus."
As we move through the story and its characters, we are immersed in yet another fascinating Simenon plot. I do wish the filmmakers had shaved off a bit of dialogue here and there early on so that there was a bit more time at the end to better present the threads and how Maigret finds the connections. Still, it's a fun ride in the Maigret TV series, and one I can recommend. But I'd suggest reading the novel afterwards to really enjoy the ending.
One issue--a frustration, really--I have with the film is the rushed ending. The last third of the film needs to cover a lot and so things are skimmed or facts told that lack a buildup and a discovery by Maigret and his team and by us the viewers. This episode begins well enough. A man says he has information that claims a fortune teller will be killed in the afternoon. Well, there are lots of fortune tellers in Paris, so where might Maigret begin? And, no surprise to the viewer, soon there is a murdered fortune teller. How did the man learn ahead of time what was to happen? And is his story believable? All he has is a story of a blotter that reflects a written note--written apparently at a café--that mentions the planned killing and it's signed "Picpus."
As we move through the story and its characters, we are immersed in yet another fascinating Simenon plot. I do wish the filmmakers had shaved off a bit of dialogue here and there early on so that there was a bit more time at the end to better present the threads and how Maigret finds the connections. Still, it's a fun ride in the Maigret TV series, and one I can recommend. But I'd suggest reading the novel afterwards to really enjoy the ending.
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