Maigret Sets A Trap
OK, let's address the reason you're reading this first: Did Rowan Atkinson rise above it all?
Yes, he did - and in the process he completely divorced us from anything he had ever done in the past. It's possible that this worked well because he's an older man now and looks the part - it's more likely that he was simply masterful in making a dull and outwardly dispassionate character so captivating.
The story itself is ludicrously simple... Maigret sets a trap! After five murders, Maigret is under pressure from all sides of Parisian society to capture a killer.
At a dinner party he is inspired into creating a trap following a conversation he has with a criminal psychologist. The gamble pays off of course and at the end, a solemn, stoic Maigret walks off into the distance with a private wry smile on his face - a job well done.
This is a drama... not an action movie. The cops have guns but no guns are drawn and not a single shot is fired. It will probably be agonizingly dull for young people.
The scenery, photography, costumes, props and direction were beautiful and the movie was 100% traditional 'Noir' in every popular sense of the film world. The shadows and lighting, cars, streets, the brown... (lots of brown!), even the smoking and the hats... all Film Noir!
The horrible 'incidental' music almost destroyed this production. There was no need for it at all, but there it was, loudly guiding us through each scene, each emotion and every minor turn of events. Hopefully the DVD version will have the option to play the movie WITHOUT this distracting, interfering and extremely noisy mess.
Kill the music and you have the perfect TV movie.
Well worth the wait and bravo, Rowan for leaving it all behind and being our new favorite cop... well, second favorite after Inspector Foyle? Time will tell.
OK, let's address the reason you're reading this first: Did Rowan Atkinson rise above it all?
Yes, he did - and in the process he completely divorced us from anything he had ever done in the past. It's possible that this worked well because he's an older man now and looks the part - it's more likely that he was simply masterful in making a dull and outwardly dispassionate character so captivating.
The story itself is ludicrously simple... Maigret sets a trap! After five murders, Maigret is under pressure from all sides of Parisian society to capture a killer.
At a dinner party he is inspired into creating a trap following a conversation he has with a criminal psychologist. The gamble pays off of course and at the end, a solemn, stoic Maigret walks off into the distance with a private wry smile on his face - a job well done.
This is a drama... not an action movie. The cops have guns but no guns are drawn and not a single shot is fired. It will probably be agonizingly dull for young people.
The scenery, photography, costumes, props and direction were beautiful and the movie was 100% traditional 'Noir' in every popular sense of the film world. The shadows and lighting, cars, streets, the brown... (lots of brown!), even the smoking and the hats... all Film Noir!
The horrible 'incidental' music almost destroyed this production. There was no need for it at all, but there it was, loudly guiding us through each scene, each emotion and every minor turn of events. Hopefully the DVD version will have the option to play the movie WITHOUT this distracting, interfering and extremely noisy mess.
Kill the music and you have the perfect TV movie.
Well worth the wait and bravo, Rowan for leaving it all behind and being our new favorite cop... well, second favorite after Inspector Foyle? Time will tell.