And The Mountain Will Bloom: Why Watch France 5's Family Saga?

Starting Wednesday, July 31, France 5 will rebroadcast a six-episode miniseries titled And the Mountain Will Bloom. Even if you are not familiar with the novel on which this fiction is based, you will be able to enjoy this series set in 19th-century Provence. Here are five good reasons to watch this family and historical saga.

1- This mini-series offers a gripping plot.

The mini-series And the Mountain Will Bloom is inspired by the novel Le Mas des tilleuls by Françoise Bourdon. This novel, published by Calmann-Levy in 2011, is set in Provence in the mid-19th century.

The hero, Jean-Baptiste, is the son of a wealthy landowner in the Buis-les-Baronnies region. When he loses his mother in a tragic accident, he finds himself alone with his father Sosthène, with whom he has a strained relationship. This gruff man is jealous of his son and the relationship he had with his mother. He decides to replace her with Séraphine, a prostitute he met a few months earlier.

When the patriarch installs his new companion in their home, hell begins for Jean-Baptiste. Wrongly accused by his young stepmother of attempting to abuse her, he is forever banished from the family estate of his childhood. He has no choice but to live with Blanche, his mother's sister, and become a traveling druggist. He roams France selling medicinal and aromatic plants that he gathers from the Lure mountain.

2- It takes up the codes of summer family sagas.

And the Mountain Will Bloom is a classic family saga. It traces in 6 episodes of 49 minutes each the fate of Jean-Baptiste, a young man disinherited and cursed by his father.

This series, both familial and historical, has as its main theme the hero's obsession: to clear his name after being unjustly accused of rape and to reclaim his rights to the estate where he was born.

After being expelled by his father from the family estate, Jean-Baptiste meets Lila, a girl from a family of water diviners and healers, whom he falls madly in love with. When she gives him a son, he believes he has finally found peace, but his happiness vanishes in the turmoil of a Provence in revolt against Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte's coup d'état...

This fiction adopts the codes of great summer sagas, as it deals with family, inheritance, betrayal, and revolt against a backdrop of historical events during a troubled period in French history.

3- This series is set against the backdrop of the magnificent landscapes of Provence.

The series And the Mountain Will Bloom was filmed from May to October 2021 in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and in the Drôme. The beauty of the landscapes and period costumes is one of the good reasons to watch or rewatch this Provençal saga.

From the first episode, the viewer is transported to Provence, cicadas sing and a scent of linden and lavender floats in the air. This fiction offers a magnificent postcard of the region.

The period costumes are just as beautiful, and the clothes of the peasants, landowners, and workers visually convey the social inequalities that fuel the revolt. The costume designers did an enormous job of portraying the different social classes of the time through their clothing.

4- It is carried by a quality cast.

And the Mountain Will Bloom features a stellar cast, with Guillaume Arnault in the lead role and Claire Duburcq as the beautiful Lila.

To bring the characters from Françoise Bourdon's novel to life, the production has chosen seasoned actors like Philippe Torreton to play Sosthène, Jean-Baptiste's father, and Hélène Fougerolles to portray his new wife Séraphine, a former prostitute. The role of Blanche is played by actress Constance Dollé, known to viewers for her portrayal of Suzanne Richard in the series Un village français.

Viewers will also recognize other familiar faces: Ophelia Kolb (Zélie), Julien Boisselier (Hector), Anne Brochet (Adélaïde), Catherine Allégret (Léonie), David Kammenos (Ailhaud), and Michel Jonasz (Mayor of Buis).

This fiction is part of France 5's summer programming.

To watch or rewatch this family saga in 6 episodes, tune in on Wednesday evenings at 8:45 PM on France 5. The first three episodes will be broadcast on Wednesday, July 31, and the last three on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.

While the Paris 2024 Olympic Games events are being aired on France 2 and France 3, the France Télévisions group has decided to highlight fiction in the evening on the channel France 5.

From July 29, 2024, and throughout the duration of the Olympics, you can discover or rediscover on this channel French-made TV series such as L'Art du crime, Alex Hugo, and Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie.

While waiting for the new school year and its batch of new fiction, the France Télévisions group also invites you to rewatch its most popular series on the france.tv platform.