Maigret a peur
- Episode aired Nov 1, 1996
- 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
94
YOUR RATING
Maigret investigates a series of murders in a small town.Maigret investigates a series of murders in a small town.Maigret investigates a series of murders in a small town.
Photos
Anne-Lise Fritsch
- Léontine Page
- (as Anne Lise Fritsch)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Featured review
Quite hard work for Maigret, extremely so for viewers
Saw this on the Talking Pictures channel, UK. I've read many of the books, and we've seen all the UK TV versions, with Rupert Davies, Michael Gambon, and Rowan Atkinson.
These French films, with Cremer in the lead, can be hard work, at usually 2 hours long, though Cremer has the right size and gravitas for the role.
This one was exceptionally hard going - the review by Gary Whalen gives much of the background very well, there have been 2 murders when Maigret arrives, and soon a third, the town has several families of the privileged (though not so wealthy we learn) and they are generally resented by the poorer bulk of the town. Remember these are set not so very long after WW2.
One of the murder victims was one of the upper-class set, the other 2 an old lady, and a drunk, both from the 'normal' section of town. All the acts were the same 'MO' as they'd say in an American film!
The intro sections were very hard work for the viewer, long and 'talkey', laying out who was who in the main families. I nodded off just in that bit. Maigret gradually gets drawn into the details of the case, in his usual quiet and thoughtful way.
The local police are portrayed as incompetent, and the magistrate (Maigret's friend, that he's come to visit) wants to blame some local maniac (if they find one), but is afraid that one of his bridge-playing friends is the guilty party.
My other half joked that the chap who'd killed himself must have read the script again (?!) -- and she may have been right. I think this story was done better and quicker in one of the UK versions, but much as I like Simenon generally, this isn't a Maigret story I'd be recommending to people!
And it plays out, very slowly, and with quite a few meaningful pauses - I nodded off again near the end. A quite absurd sub-plot with one of the upper-class set, having an affair with a local tart, ends with both attempting suicide, one succeeding. She has been getting regularly beaten, and the man (now deceased) is taken to be the murderer -- but is that the end?
These French films, with Cremer in the lead, can be hard work, at usually 2 hours long, though Cremer has the right size and gravitas for the role.
This one was exceptionally hard going - the review by Gary Whalen gives much of the background very well, there have been 2 murders when Maigret arrives, and soon a third, the town has several families of the privileged (though not so wealthy we learn) and they are generally resented by the poorer bulk of the town. Remember these are set not so very long after WW2.
One of the murder victims was one of the upper-class set, the other 2 an old lady, and a drunk, both from the 'normal' section of town. All the acts were the same 'MO' as they'd say in an American film!
The intro sections were very hard work for the viewer, long and 'talkey', laying out who was who in the main families. I nodded off just in that bit. Maigret gradually gets drawn into the details of the case, in his usual quiet and thoughtful way.
The local police are portrayed as incompetent, and the magistrate (Maigret's friend, that he's come to visit) wants to blame some local maniac (if they find one), but is afraid that one of his bridge-playing friends is the guilty party.
My other half joked that the chap who'd killed himself must have read the script again (?!) -- and she may have been right. I think this story was done better and quicker in one of the UK versions, but much as I like Simenon generally, this isn't a Maigret story I'd be recommending to people!
And it plays out, very slowly, and with quite a few meaningful pauses - I nodded off again near the end. A quite absurd sub-plot with one of the upper-class set, having an affair with a local tart, ends with both attempting suicide, one succeeding. She has been getting regularly beaten, and the man (now deceased) is taken to be the murderer -- but is that the end?
helpful•11
- Tony-Holmes
- Nov 1, 2023
Details
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
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