Maigret

I've just caught up with this version, as the Talking Pictures channel (UK - old films and TV) have started showing it, after all 4 series of the 1960s BBC version with Rupert Davies as Maigret (acclaimed by Simenon, apparently).

After the first episode, it's clear the producers and direction went massively for style and atmosphere, preferring them to actual accuracy re the books!

Reviewer Brtor mentions the Gambon versions (2 series) and seems to say they were limited at 55 mins long. Well, that is WRONG, they were about 70 mins or so, fine to tell the stories, and far more accurate to the novels, as they featured Maigret's team, and wife.

THIS Cremer version has a big, thoughtful Maigret, but he seems to have none of he occasional bits of humour seen in the novels, and both the Davies and Gambon versions. This one is also very slow-paced, the time taken up by the camera spending ages looking at the lead, showing the wheels turning in his head as he considers the plot?!

Speaking of plot, the first episode I've seen is the well-known story set in Montmartre, a nightclub stripper is murdered, after making a claim to police that she's overheard a murder plot, and her body quickly turns up dead. All the other TV versions seen in UK did this same story, they all kept to the plot from the book, with only minor changes (the Davies version was only 55 mins, so had to get a move on!). THIS version for some reason makes BIG changes to the story, the death location is changed, also the mode of the death, and 2 characters are merged into one -- maybe one of the actors didn't turn up?!! Quite bizarre, and anyone claiming 'accuracy' can immediately be shown this episode, as I can see no reason for such radical changes.

Oh, another reviewer mentions the Rowan Atkinson version, speaks well of it. However, that short series was also blighted by a very slow pace (2 hour show, though ads took up a few mins) - and RA is a rather glum, taciturn Maigret, a portrayal that generally got panned by Maigret fans used to the books and earlier versions. I daresay this Cremer version will get a similar kind of verdict, as the team seems to have only fringe involvement, almost no use of his faithful aide Lucas for example, which readers of the books will find very odd?!

We'll watch more episodes, as it's an interesting version -- but if the slow pace gets too much to bear (style over substance?!) we may give up.

An excellent detective series for any nation, and yet I've seen a lot of them, ancient or modern.

Quickly, what differentiates this Maigret 1991 from other detective series is the atmosphere, the weightlessness and above all the reality that sticks to the skin of this universe.

Maigret is a gruff bear, certainly, but he has the gift of empathy: he loves people (even delinquents) and that can be seen on the screen.

Everyone has a chance with him: he takes his time to live with them, to live in the dirt, to live in the filth of this world in which he appears like a breath of air.

I like Bruno Cremer in this series because he is both human and the God of this world.

I'm more than tired of the series that we see too often in videos on demand, in which the houses don't have an ounce of dust, in which everything is smooth, all the actors are beautiful and all the investigations are solved with DNA.

No, that's not the truth.

The truth, the reality, is rather in the darkness and filth depicted by this series.

For me, it is masterful.

I have only recently become familiar with Maigret and I am thrilled with the program. Hopefully I can find and watch all of the episodes.

Thank you...

I'm a big fan of Simenon's Maigret. I've read several of the novels and seen all of the movies from Pierre Renoir to Jean Gabin and Charles Laughton. I have seen the very limited Rupert Davies clips on YouTube and I wish there were more to see. Davies looks a lot like Gabin. I didn't care for the Richard Harris Maigret and at first Michael Gambon left me cold but I've changed my opinion somewhat after a second viewing of that series. About a year ago I discovered the episodes featuring Bruno Cremer. I was unfamiliar with Cremer other than seeing him in the excellent Sorcerer film (I think people avoided because of the title). I immediately fell in love with the series. Cremer to me is the Maigret that reminds me the most of the one in the novels. His physical appearance is right (to me). His ability to quietly observe and hone in one the trivial details that almost always are crucial to solving the mysteries. His intuition almost from the start at what or who is behind the crimes and his friction with the judges is the Maigret I recognize. I understand criticism of the slow-moving aspects of the series. But I enjoy watching the patience of this brilliant investigator. The criticism that he's more involved than a man of his rank should be is the exact quality of the author's character and the reason he's disliked by many of his fellow officers and by the judges who think he's too involved. I now have all of the DVD sets in my collection but I continue to watch the episodes in order on MHz Choice that streams on my ROKU players. I'm glad I discovered this great series and if you're a true fan of Simenon and Maigret you would be advised to check it out even if you're not a fan of subtitles. It's worth the effort. In fact, it's worth checking out MHz Choice. I've watched other very entertaining shows on that streaming channel as well from France and other countries.

Love this series. Watching these episodes on Talking pictures tv. We never got the chance to see the French version of Maigret when it was originally made in the 1990s. Bruno Cremer captured the character of the inspector perfectly. Bruno's Maigret can be witty, amusing and grumpy if people irritate him. He is very fond of his food and drink. Sadly we have got to the last episode in the series.i will really miss it.

British tv sadly at present is just about box ticking controlled by the looney left. Watching this series captures just how good a tv series can be.

I'm not familiar with other French tv programs or if they are all up this high standard.