The atmosphere in this episode is wonderful. It is winter, and Maigret wanders around the grounds of a huge chateau. Inside it is full of the stuff collected by previous occupants, and panelled in pale blue.
Unfortunately the adapters couldn't leave the story alone. Every element (familiar from Gambon and Davies versions), has been tweaked, and not to good effect. The altar boy, the whistle, the prayerbook. This whole strand is garbled. Gauthier Senior is not a thief. There was no need to make the hotelier a previous girlfriend of Maigret's.
Maigret left the village to study medicine, he was never offered the job of steward, he didn't "flee" the village. This is not just unnecessary - it's banal.
Mme Maigret is present in this version, looking smart in a subdued suit and hat. Anne Bellec's performance has grown on me - perhaps she grew into the part and the director(s) gave her more to do.
Jacques Spiesser is great as the decadent Comte de St Fiacre, but I agree that he could have made the point in half the time. He was so good, though, that I began to worry about him, now alone in his remote chateau while a way of life ebbs away. Will someone take him in hand and send him to Alcoholics Anonymous and come up with a business plan for the chateau? I'd hate him to gut it and turn it into a wedding venue, but couldn't he turn the redundant wings into flats and...
Unfortunately the adapters couldn't leave the story alone. Every element (familiar from Gambon and Davies versions), has been tweaked, and not to good effect. The altar boy, the whistle, the prayerbook. This whole strand is garbled. Gauthier Senior is not a thief. There was no need to make the hotelier a previous girlfriend of Maigret's.
Maigret left the village to study medicine, he was never offered the job of steward, he didn't "flee" the village. This is not just unnecessary - it's banal.
Mme Maigret is present in this version, looking smart in a subdued suit and hat. Anne Bellec's performance has grown on me - perhaps she grew into the part and the director(s) gave her more to do.
Jacques Spiesser is great as the decadent Comte de St Fiacre, but I agree that he could have made the point in half the time. He was so good, though, that I began to worry about him, now alone in his remote chateau while a way of life ebbs away. Will someone take him in hand and send him to Alcoholics Anonymous and come up with a business plan for the chateau? I'd hate him to gut it and turn it into a wedding venue, but couldn't he turn the redundant wings into flats and...