Le Bazar de la Charité

First of all I have to say that I have no criticism, whatsoever, of this series. I am a student of the French Language so I recommend watching it in French with sub-titles, as watching it dubbed loses more than half of the atmosphere.

This is a fictional tale set in the aftermath of a genuine event of 1897 when there was a huge and terrible fire at a charity event in Paris which claimed the lives of 125 people, most of whom were aristocratic ladies. The story revolves around the lives of three women who survived the fire: one unscathed but affected, one badly burnt and disfigured and one who is uninjured but................well! Wait and see.

The drama is set in Paris in 1897 and the producers have done a great job of capturing the atmosphere of the city and the era, the attitudes of the people and the relationships between the different sociopolitical groups. The dramatic pace of the series is well maintained and there is a certain degree of "cliffl hanger" at the end of each episode, to the extent that I will admit that I was forced to "binge" watch it.

The plot is relatively simple but with a few twists and turns in a rather "Dickensian" fashion which results in a nice classical structure of having a beginning, a middle and an end. However, it is not without some excitement and a fair amount of tension. OK! So some will say that the ending is predictable, so what! I loved it.

The "18" rating is totally unjustified and the description "strong sex" has obviously been applied by a Sunday School teacher who has yet to experience sex of any kind. There is, perhaps, a view of one or two female bottoms & one nipple. but that's all, although there is some rather tender, and carefully edited, lovemaking.

I rate this as a thoroughly entertaining piece of drama, well worth watching. It is well acted and extremely well produced with good scenery and atmosphere. Overall I was left feeling happy and glad I'd watched it.

I watched this because my favourite French actress, Audrey Fleurot stars in it and she's magnificent as the tormented flame haired heroine Adrienne. However, all the cast are fantastic, the period detail and costuming excellent and the horrific fire scene in the first episode, which happens in real time, devastating, upsetting and thrilling all at once. The story is a fin de ciecle tale of the rich and the poor set in Paris and filmed in some the most beautiful houses I have ever seen on film. The story is a "page turner", well paced, gripping and with characters you care about. I wanted all the women whose stories are told after the dreadful fire, to have happy endings. If you are looking for a French "Downton Abbey" this may be a bit gory and there are a few tasteful sex scenes although minimal nudity. The 18 certificate is presumably for the injury detail after the inferno, which is pretty grim. I watched the whole 8 episodes in two sittings. Recommended for anyone who likes bodice ripping historical drama although this series did have a feminist twist, most of the men either being weak or hissably villainous! Overall, extremely good Gallic drama with very high production values. 9 out of 10.

Camille lou (someone who I had never heard of before) absolutely captivates your attention through out this intensely dramatic, tightly woven tale of four women and their families set in period France. The French mansions and scenery are gorgeous, beautiful cinematography, and a villain you really hate and keeps you on edge. class warfare, love, politics, revenge and revolution .. thoroughly binge worthy

As an intermediate French student, it's really difficult to find interesting content that is easy enough to understand: This series is perfect. Watch it in the original French with French subtitles turned on (happily an option with Netflix). The speech is fairly clear, not too fast and not heavily accented.

The beautiful costumes, set design and cinematography in this historical drama make up for the fairly predictable plot and uninspired acting. Compared to the mindless dialogues contained in most French language courses, this is a truly entertaining step up.

Here's the deal: I watched the 1st episode and thought it was terrible EXCEPT for the cinematography. It's French and dubbed in English... TERRIBLE ENGLISH! So, I went to my old standby, IMDbTV, to check the reviews, as I often do. I saw one review in particular that insisted it must be watched with the original French speaking actors' voices and subtitled in English (for me). This review stated that the English dubbing is so terrible and hokey that it has a terrible effect on the performances and story line. Well, I went back and did this for the 2nd episode and could not stop watching from that moment on! WHAT A HUGE IMPROVEMENT! This is a great binge-worthy show and I fell in love (or hate where appropriate) with the actors. This is well written, superbly acted and filmed beautifully. After watching it this way for a few minutes, I was completely immersed. Watch it the right way and you'll thoroughly enjoy it!