Les Fleurs sauvages

A little slow in a few places, which gets an 8 from me, but one can almost overlook that when the good stuff starts happening.

A word of warning. There are 7 episodes. As of tonight August 25, only 6 have played on Amazon Prime. Prime doesn't tell you there are 7.. If you haven't started yet I suggest you wait until the 31st and binge all 7 because number 6 is a real cliffhanger.

I was looking for something that wasn't cookie cutter detective mysteries and was hooked by Prime's description: "After losing her parents to a mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice Hart is raised by her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns there are secrets within secrets. But years on, an unearthed betrayal sees Alice forced to face her past."

Sounded like one of those gothic mysteries in the tradition of Du Maurier's Rebecca and Bronte's Jane Eyre. Well, it sorta is, but with modern issues.

The acting is great, the cast superb, the scenery gorgeous, and the story line disturbing, but necessary.

Sigourney Weaver plays against type in her character June Hart, a manipulative, controlling matriarch, who unsympathetically tries to hold her "family" together, often to their detriment.

I'm writing generalities. Others have been more specific.

See it.

The scenery is NOT dark and dim. Someone's TV settings need adjusting. No, this was never meant to be a plot driven "action" movie so if that's want you want, skip watching it. Otherwise if a mystery down under interests you, watch this series. It's beautifully filmed. The acting is top notch. Most people who aren't Aussies won't notice Sigourney's wavering accent.

I will admit that episodes 1-3 out the 4 available at the moment were more interesting. The actress who plays young Alice is appealing and believable. Kudos to Alyla! I am unable, however to warm to the older Alice at this point and I hope that changes. All the flower designs and flowers themselves are beautiful. As wells as the beach scenes.

The strength is the acting of Sigourney Weaver as June, the head of Thornfield. Her transformation from Episode 1 to Episode 7 is truly amazing. She runs Thornfield, and it is a haven for abused women, yet misunderstood by the locals. It is a flower heaven, and in it the flowers tell a story. They are one with nature. Clem is June's son, and he married Agnes, and Alice is their daughter. After a fire, Alice comes to live at Thornfield. But June knows some terrible secrets, yet keeps them from Alice which does not serve either of them well. Alice leaves and cuts off all contact. Yet, the loss of Alice leaves a hole in the heart of June, and her stubbornness eats away at her. Episode 7 is very powerful, and ties a lot of loose ends and some of those loose ends make some of what happened earlier even more potent. Alice thinks she has found happiness far away, but that is only a mirage and she finds out how powerless she really is. There is a lot of complexity in the whole series, and in many ways that is good, as those problems may be solved in one TV episode, but in real life rarely wrapped up neatly. And both the flowers at Thornfield and the scenery throughout the episodes are truly wonderful.

Despite oddly choppy accents and some slower moments than a slow-burning story needs, this is a wonder. It is a story that should be seen and heard. If you haven't know violence, it is crucial; if you have, it is utterly respectful, familiar, perhaps healing.

What the slow burning plot does well is the inching towards reveals and epiphanies that happen as patiently crafted as the scenes surrounding them. No tricks of twists, no Hollywood quick turns.

The journey all these characters take, especially Alice, happens as life happens. One moment at a time.

Characters are complex and dynamic in rare realness; you'll find no heroes where it seems you will and no pure villains.

Flowers grow slowly from seed yet bloom quickly, like this beautiful piece of acting, courage, and community.

This is an excellent series. Some may find it slow moving, but I think the pacing was just right. Sigourney Weaver is, in many ways, odd casting, yet she is the best thing about it. In all logic, the part should have gone to an Australian actress - after all, June is supposed to be an Australian matriarch. The wonderful Judy Davis comes to mind, and I'm sure she would have done a wonderful job, Yet Weaver is exceptional, even if her accent is unclear. The rest of the cast is also excellent, Alice young and old and especially Twig. And it is a great story, one that delivers a series of surprises and twists but is always true to itself. Well worth watching and one of the best series ever made in Australia.