The series: “The Gilded Age” on OCS
Bourgeois families in prestigious outfits, servants exchanging gossip and chicanery, sumptuous residences… If you say “Downtown Abbey”, you are not very far since its creator, Julian Fellowes, is also at the origin of ” The Gilded Age” (that is to say “the golden age” American in French).
But this time, we are leaving England at the beginning of the 20th century for New York at the end of the 19th century. The main heroine is young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson, one of Meryl Streep’s daughters), who leaves her native Pennsylvania after the death of her father to live with her aunts Agnes (Christine Baranski) and Ada (Cynthia Nixon ). On the way, she meets Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), a young black woman and budding writer, who will become her friend. But Marian will find herself in the middle of a conflict between her aunts and her neighbors, the Russels. George (Morgan Spector) is a nouveau riche who made his fortune in the new railroads, while his wife Bertha (Carrie Coon) aspires to become a household name on Fifth Avenue.
Going from “Downtown Abbey” to “The Gilded Age” is like finding your little shoes with new soles, but the same comfort. Not much happens, but everything is told, and interpreted, with talent. In the category of actresses with long careers throwing spades with class and talent, Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon brilliantly succeed Maggie Smith. Louisa Jacobson plays the young ingenue with pleasure.
“The Gilded Age” nevertheless stands out from its illustrious predecessor with themes that are both relevant and still relevant, such as the independence of women, the place of black people in a white society, or the acceptance of homosexuality, without falling into misery. For fans of “Downtown Abbey”, but also of “The Bridgerton Chronicle” or “Gossip Girl”, “The Gilded Age” will be a pleasure to watch.
The other series: “The Woman Who Lived Across from the Girl in the Window” on Netflix
For Anna (Kristen Bell), who is heartbroken, the days go by and look alike. She sits down with a glass of wine, looks out the window and sees life go by without her. But when a charming neighbor moves in across the street with his daughter, Anna begins to see the end of the tunnel. Until the day she witnesses a horrible murder… or not?
With its convoluted title, “The Woman Who Lived Opposite the Girl at the Window” plays the pastiche card of thrillers, whether by Alfred Hitchock in person – “Rear Window” – or in his lineage – “ The Woman at the Window” with Amy Adams for example. But is it really a pastiche? Are we turning towards parody? Unless it’s more serious? It takes the talent of Kristen Bell (“The Good Place”) to deceive her world, in a suspense as full as the heroine’s glasses of red wine.
The mini-series: “La Corde”, available for free on arte.tv
Helligskogen, in northern Norway, in an astronomical observatory lost in the middle of nature. Bernhardt Mueller (Richard Sammel) and his wife Agnès (Suzanne Clément), renowned scientists, hope to soon obtain authorization to implement the observation protocol on which they have been working for fifteen years. But when they have just obtained the green light, the celebrations are disturbed by a strange discovery: a rope has appeared at the edge of the forest, sinking without limit through the trees. Curious to elucidate this mystery, Bernhardt decides to follow her, accompanied by several of his colleagues (Jean-Marc Barr, Jeanne Balibar, Christa Théret…)
Mini-series of three 50-minute episodes, it seems that “La Corde” is double. If the premise is not uninteresting, the mystery gives way to the absurd wanderings of its characters – however scientific – without trying to give meaning to their wanderings. Despite the talent in front of the camera with this international cast and behind the camera (Dominique Rocher, director of “The Night has devoured the world” in 2018), all this quickly becomes abstruse. Not explaining anything and leaving the viewers in the expectation is a choice that can pay off. Here, it is mainly us who pay the bill…