"L'enfant des lumières" (2002) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Daniel Vigne

Writers:

Françoise Chandernagor (novel)
Jean-François Goyet (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series | Based On Novel

Cast

Nathalie Baye	...	Comtesse Diane de Breyves
Jocelyn Quivrin	...	Alexis
Rémi Allemand	...	Alexis (enfant)
Sylviane Goudal	...	Babeth
David Bennent	...	Hyacinthe Mignon
Marianne Basler	...	Angélique
Jean-Yves Berteloot	...	D'Agincourt
Jean-Pierre Jorris	...	Frécourt
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olivier Achard	...	Léveillé
Catherine Alcover	...	Mme de Meillant
Pierre Aussedat	...	Le Curé
Daphné Baiwir
Grégoire Baldari	...	Le Préfet
Philippe Beautier	...	Martial
Martin Belcour	...	Jeannot
Gaëlle Billaut Danno
Julie Bonnefond	...	Hélène petite
Cyrille Bonnet	...	Gros Sylvain grand
René Bourdet	...	Mathieu
Jean Bruneteau	...	Autre Garçon petit
Richard Chevallier	...	Père Jean
Olivier Claverie	...	Pierre de Civry
Philippe Desnier	...	Chef Gens d'armes
John Dobrynine	...	Le Chirurgien
Maxime Gorge	...	Gros Sylvain petit
Sonia Hell	...	La bonne de la Comtesse
Stéphane Jobert	...	Gabelou
Chloé Lambert	...	Hélène grande
Serge Larivière	...	Panchaud
Thomas Leruth	...	Claude Vallentin grand
Johan Leysen	...	Henri de Breyves
Albert Mathieu	...	Germany
Diego Norberghen	...	Grand Garçon
Ludovic Paris	...	Raguenet
Jean-François Perrier	...	Beauvais

Runtime:

180 min | France:52 min (4 episodes) | France:90 min (2 episodes)

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Arte France

how social change affects personal destiny during the years of the French revolution

This series reminds one of what the Germans term Bildungroman, that is a novel dedicated to the evolution of a character.In that case the son of a provincial French countess has to solve an important family matter as his grows up but is also imbued with the ideas of the Enlightment.

The scenery both provincial and Parisian is great and the French actors convincing in roles that may cause culture shock to foreign actors.The evocation of the age, dying shrieks of the Old Regime birth pangs of the Revolution, is also fine.

The different social classes are accurately represented, as well as their clashes and evolving relationships while the seismic waves of historical evolution destroy their microcosms,creating new syntheses and combinations.

It is obvious from the series that Enlightment had a different content for the Liberal nobility, to which the hero belongs, and the common people.

The example of the American Revolution is cited- a well attested historical fact. The film tries to combine the personal and the collective- individual experience blended with social change and dynamics. I think it does so successfully- though the personal and family history of the young noble is the fabric around which the series is built.

It is clearly a European production and bears that distinctive mark. If one fancies history, romance, action with a European and slightly intellectualist flair this is a must see.