Maigret (TV Series) Maigret et la nuit du carrefour (1992) User Reviews

Interesting version of Maigret

[Tony-Holmes · 8/10 · 8 April 2023]

Saw this on the Talking Pictures channel, UK older films and TV. They showed the entire collection of the Rupert Davies Maigret episodes (BBC, early 60s) and are now showing this quirky, slow-paced French one (90s) with subtitles.

The atmosphere is very French, lots of slow thoughtful looks, and Maigret wastes few words, which fits with the books, as does the actor's rather lumbering figure.

No real complaints re the lead portrayal, except that in the books he does crack the odd joke, and has some repartee with faithful R-H man Lucas. In this however, Lucas hardly ever appears, not even mentioned in most episodes, which is STRANGE - I cannot recall a book without him featuring in some way!

This particular episode is quite like the Rupert Davies version (though that one wrapped up the mystery in an hour!) and the one by Rowan Atkinson (ITV), though that one was also nearly 2 hours runtime, and had an extra subplot with a crooked cop. Here in the French one there are some nude sketches of the leading lady (would have lit up the BBC switchboard in the 60s!!), and a couple of shots of her trying to persuade Maigret by showing a lot of leg. Or at one point while getting changed (and under arrest!), a lot of everything. Tres Francais?!

The series is OK though, the subtitles are not an issue, but just WHERE did Lucas get to?!!

Maigret drawing his pistol and shoot repeatedly like a cowboy

[dragonfroid-70798 · 10/10 · 5 January 2021]

This episode is interesting for two reasons:

• On the one hand, one observes once again the clear-sightedness with which Georges Simenon (the writer at the origin of Maigret) depicts the world of night, especially the prostitutes. What accuracy!

• On the other hand it is the first time since the beginning of the series that we see Maigret draw his pistol and shoot repeatedly like a cowboy!

It's quite astonishing. Let's not say, after seeing this episode, that Maigret doesn't like action! All the actors are right in this episode, as in all the series besides ! I love it.

"Let's go." "Where to?" "The garage."

[garywhalen · 9/10 · 20 August 2023]

The novel upon which this episode is based is one of my three or four favorites of Simenon's Maigret novels. The story unfolds at an intersection of highways-a crossroads-where one sees what one usually sees at such a spot on a lonely highway: a garage, a small motel, a diner, and maybe a few houses. Some misplaced cars and a dead body bring Maigret from Paris. Soon, and it's no surprise to anyone who enjoys reading Simenon, Maigret peels away layers upon layers in this seemingly quiet community to expose the crime and its causes.

This episode follows the book quite closely, though (and here I have to agree with another reviewer) I am surprised and find it a bit odd that the character of Lucas, one of Maigret's assistants, is not included. He is in the novel, and his actions in the novel are included in this episode but they are done by someone else. Like I said, odd, but certainly not something that should overly offend a Simenon purist. (In Simenon's Maigret stories, Maigret's assistants change with some being given more prominence than others in different books. Those assistants include Lucas, LaPointe, Torrence, and Janvier.)

The isolation of the crossroads is captured nicely, and the characters are well acted. Special notice must be given to Sunnyi Melles and Johan Leysen as Else and Karl Andersen. If you like the story I'd recommend that in addition to reading the novel you also watch the French-produced 1932 "Night at the Crossroads."