Commissaire Magellan

Commissaire Magellan is an enigma: he is kind of annoyingly sympathetic but also an utter bore and very conservative living in a French small town. Still this show survived for quite a few seasons - I guess the reason is that it avoids senseless violence and action action action scenes - which I too appreciate.

Cinematography is similar, nothing stands out, which again is good, on the other hand it's also really boring again, so it fits the show. The first few episodes have terrible lighting and a brownish tint to it - so it looks even more dated.

Acting generally is ok, nothing special again.

The stories themselves tend to be rather convoluted though. Episodes are around 90 minutes long! They should be 60 minutes though. I've got the feeling there are too many pages added just to lengthen the script.

Music: it drags along in the background not drawing much attention, except in the episode 7 ('Undercover Miss' in the US), an episode called 'La miss aux deux visages' in original where the musics composer borrows very liberally from Antonio Jobim's 'How insensitive'! Or was it a love letter to Jobim?

All in all: very pétit bourgeois !

Season 1 of Magellan was extremely enjoyable. All the actors and plots worked out. Then the wonderful Nabil disappeared and was replaced by an ever complaining character at the end of season 1. Season 2 starts with 2 girls younger than in season 1! Since when this would make sense to anyone? And not only that, but their character is unpleasant. Is the writer different ? 10 stars for season 1, 4 stars for season 2

The series has been enjoyable. However, I have been fast forwarding the scenes with the nephew Ludo. Most reviews on this character have not been positive. So why do the producers or whoever are the decision makers insist on including this character? It is a shame. The interludes with the original cast was entertaining. Is it is grinding at best. Who can we appeal to for a change and have Ludo move to Antarctica and live there happily ever after. And we can move on enjoying Saignac with Magellan and Selma. That will be appreciated by many of us.

The Gaellic version Midsomer Murders. Very formulaic, which actually makes it an easygoing enjoyable show to sit back and watch a couple of episodes a week. His sidekick Salma, a lovely smart detective, who has the answer to everything after checking her computer or ipad for 2 seconds. Magellan home life after the first few seasons is quiet, with daughters, girlfriend and buddies at French restaurant until the intro of his nephew, Ludo. This character should be awarded the French Emmy for most annoying character on French TV.

From my American perspective, seems like every episode and every character has an affair, and/or don't know their origins or that of their parents, siblings, even their kids. French detective shows seem to feature certain type of murders: the death of a opera/ballet star, soccer player, cyclist, so when the victim was a swimmer, I was happy, as I am a swimmer. I loved this episode and laughed my head off. Also shared with my Master's coach, lines such as, "swimmers are very competitive, any of them could easily be murderer." . Or, that the french female swimmer is "tres fagile." Tell that to Ledecky. Actually almost every young woman is "tres fragile." to Magellan.

Another thing that makes me laugh is that you often hear the metaphor, "a stick up his ass." The protagonist literally walks like has a stick up his ass with his arms not moving. Is this a mannerisms the director wants to highlight? Because we often see Magellan walking around, and next to Salma (who has the grace of a dancerj looks awful. Also isn't France noted for their sartorial style? His jacket looks like a sack of potatos.

Check out Mongeville , another French detective story. The chemistry between two protagonist is much better, plus his home life is one of a rich eccentric who loves to cook luscious French dinners. Seems more like a retired French Bruce Wayne, who loves to solve murders with French panache.

We stumbled on this by accident - a program we were watching on France 3 rolled over into an episode, and we kept on watching.

Like Columbo, each episode stands alone, though there are certain recurring characters who provide a backdrop to the investigative action. Unlike Columbo, Simon Magellan has a home life, and in general this provides the light comic relief that offsets the drama of the murder investigation.

The relations and plot twists between the various possible suspects in each murder are as tortuous as anything Agatha Christie or Erle Stanley Gardner ever dreamed up, and the frenetic pace of unravelling the tangled web in the span of a 90 minute episode keeps the viewer constantly on the edge of the seat.

The characters are for the most part highly believable, and even the bit parts and extras do a sterling job of adding credibility, especially when some of the plot propositions come across as somewhat lame. In this context, I must make mention of one young actress, Florence Coste, who played a strong supporting role in the May 2018 episode "Un Amour De Jeunesse" ("Young Love"). The ability to cry really convincingly on camera is rare. The ability to act drunk believably is almost non-existent. Ms Coste handles both with such perfect understatement that I was quite awestruck.

If I had to single out one area where the series falls short, it is in the camera work and final editing. There are jumps in the picture, badly angled shots, and a heavy reliance on a series of canned aerial views of the town to indicate that Simon Magellan is moving from place to place. But this is not an art film, it is a mystery series, and we are content to forgive the poor post-productoin for the sake of some excellent acting and fun plot.

It isn't easy to find episodes to watch. France 3 runs them from time to time in batches on successive weekends of a few weeks, but not in episode sequence, and with long breaks between. MHz Choice has the first 8 episodes available with English subtitles that are too big and too high on the screen, and therefore interfere a lot with the action. It would be nice if the copyright owners would put the existing 32 episodes on a DVD boxed set and make them available on-line.