The mini-series “The island of 30 coffins”, of which France 2 is broadcasting two new episodes tonight, takes place on the fictional island of Sarek, already at the heart of Maurice Leblanc’s novel. But it was in Brittany that filming took place in the spring of 2021.
A little over forty years after the previous television adaptation of Maurice Leblanc’s novel with Claude Jade and Jean-Paul Zehnacker in the main roles, L’île aux 30 coffins is entitled this year to a new transposition on the screen in the form of mini-series in six episodes with summer saga accents carried by Virginie Ledoyen, Charles Berling, and Stanley Weber.
Broadcast every Monday at 9:10 p.m. on France 2, this 2022 version of The Island of 30 Coffins directed by Frédéric Mermoud (The Returned) and written by Elsa Marpeau (Captain Marleau) and Florent Meyer (Crazy Love) begins when Christine Vorski, doctor leading a peaceful life in Paris with her husband Raphaël, receives a mysterious video showing images of her giving birth on Sarek, the island where she grew up.
Horrified, Christine then discovers that her child, announced as stillborn, has in fact been murdered. Now haunted by many questions, she decides to return to the island she left 15 years earlier to find out the truth about her son’s death. But as soon as he arrived in Sarek, a series of deaths stirred up the terror of the inhabitants. Could Christine have unwittingly awakened the prophecy of the Thirty Coffins?
Remy Grandroques – Thalie Images – FTV
The France 2 event series, which also includes Dominique Pinon, Jérémy Gillet (Mytho), Noam Morgensztern (Alice Nevers), Marilyne Canto (Alex Hugo), Adama Niane (Maroni), Tom Rivoire (Les Bracelets rouges), or even Jean-François Stévenin in his last role on screen, was shot from March 29 to June 29, 2021 in Brittany, but also in the Paris region for a few sequences.
The majority of the scenes taking place in Sarek were filmed on the island of Ouessant, located west of mainland Brittany, as well as in Finistère, in the villages of Plogoff, Cléden-Cap-Sizun, Goulien, Landévennec, Concarneau, or even Le Guilvinec.
And perhaps even more so than in the 1979 version or in Maurice Leblanc’s novel, the island of Sarek becomes, in the series with Virginie Ledoyen, a real character in its own right in the story.
“It’s an arena series, and it was fundamental to bring the island to life as well as the characters”explained the director Frédéric Mermoud during a press conference organized by France 2 a few weeks ago. “We had the intuition that the island was going to be the arena of Christine’s quest. But that it also had to be a kind of echo of what was being played out there consciously and unconsciously. We tried to build the island so that it is associated with Christine’s almost mental journey, because basically it’s an inner quest”.
“There was also the desire to reconnect with certain codes and motifs of the genre”continues the director who notably worked on the Canal+ series Les Revenants. “The island is still quite a spooky motif despite everything. You can get in but it’s hard to get out. It’s an island that can suddenly be subject to bad weather. And it’s an island which, as the priest says, has its own rules, its own codes. We liked the idea that the island allowed us to create romance and fiction in a very strong way”.
While France 2 is broadcasting two new episodes of The Island of 30 Coffins tonight, the entire series is already available on Salto for the most impatient.