An Orphan's Tale (1981– )
"Sans famille" (original title)

Remi's quiet childhood in chevegnon is interrupted one day as his father comes home after 7 years in Paris, telling him they're not his real parents, and that they can no longer afford to ... See full summary »

Stars:

Fabrice Josso, Petula Clark, François Pinat

Cast

Series cast summary:
Fabrice Josso	...	Rémi (3 episodes, 1981)
Petula Clark	...	Mme Milligan (3 episodes, 1981)
François Pinat	...	Mattia (3 episodes, 1981)
Gérard Darrieu	...	Père Barberin (2 episodes, 1981)
Céline Delrieu	...	Lise (2 episodes, 1981)

Storyline

Remi's quiet childhood in chevegnon is interrupted one day as his father comes home after 7 years in Paris, telling him they're not his real parents, and that they can no longer afford to keep him. He is being sold to a travelling circus master, thus starting a journey across lovely French countryside, in the end of which he'll find his biological family, and a few other things.

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Plot Keywords:

french countryside | kidnapping | children

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 November 1981 (Israel)

Also Known As:

An Orphan's Tale

Company Credits

Production Co:

Société Française de Production (SFP), TF1

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min 53 min (5 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Without Family (2000)

User Reviews

In my opinion , one of the best mini series of all time!

France were great for making wonderful mini series back in the 70's and 80's and this one is really special."Sans famille" is the French "Oliver Twist" thats the best way to describe the story.Remie lives happily in a farm with his Mother Madame Barberin until Madame Barberin husband comes home and Remie find out that he his not the Barberin's son.Mister Barberin sell Remie to Vitalis , a street performer and then his adventure begins.Along his Journey, he will meet all sort of people and make new friend like Mattias,Liz and the rich British woman Miss Milligan and her son....well, there are more then meet the eye to miss Miligan and she might not be as sweet and caring as we all think at first. What makes this mini series really stand out is the Acting!!! , it's terrific,I would even say that half of the actors would have gotten an Emmy if that production was American. Jean Fraval as Vitalis especially stand out , that man had given so much power to the role that the hair on my arm raise.The scenes with Vitalis near the end of the first episodes are really gut wrenching. The younger actors are also really good , but the real star out of the kids was Francois Pinnat who played Mattias,that kid was so convincing and just so likable in the role I felt a real loss when it was his time to say goodbye to Remie. Fabrice Josso is very good as Remie and for the French he his the ultimate Remie as he was also voicing the Japanese animated show just a year after filming the mini series.It is very amusing to watch the films and at the same time listening to Remie's voice and getting flashback of the cult (well for France) animated show. Like Oliver Twist what makes sans famille works is that Remie is not the main star , the purpose of his journey is really to make us discover France of the 1800's with all its diverse characters. There was a couple of other version made of that great story including a not very good version of it in 2002 but if you want to experience the story the way it was written , this TV show is your best bet. 10 out of 10