Fortune Of France: 5 Things To Know About The New Series On France 2
Starting Monday, September 16, France 2 will broadcast a major historical drama set in the 16th century, at the dawn of the Wars of Religion. The series "Fortune de France" traces the fate of the Siorac family, torn between the Protestant faith of the patriarch and the Catholic fervor of the rest of the household. Here are 5 things to know about this new fiction.
1- This series is an adaptation of a saga by Robert Merle.
The series Fortune de France, to be discovered on France 2 starting Monday, September 16 at 9:05 PM, is the first television adaptation of the eponymous saga by Robert Merle.
This fiction, announced as the event of the season on the France Télévisions channel, follows the plot of a famous literary saga published starting in 1977. This extensive work in 13 volumes, which has captivated generations of readers, naturally had to be reworked for the small screen.
Nearly fifty years after the books were published, the series has chosen to modernize this story without betraying its spirit. It offers a tangible immersion into this distant era through the small gestures of daily life. The female characters gain more depth, and the television fiction features three brothers, whereas the novels focused on two Siorac brothers...
This saga, characterized by a somewhat slow epic breath, earned Nicolas Duvauchelle and Guillaume Gouix the Best Actor award at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival in 2024.
2- She immerses viewers in the wars of religion.
Through the history of the Siorac family, the Fortune of France series immerses the viewer in one of the darkest periods in French History.
The story takes place in the 16th century, at the dawn of the religious wars that saw Catholics and Protestants tearing each other apart, against the backdrop of dynastic succession between the Valois and the Bourbons.
In the Périgord of 1557, Protestants are hunted down and sometimes tortured and killed because of their faith. In this context, some members of the Siorac family are threatened due to their beliefs.
3- It follows the fate of a family.
To recount this pivotal period in French history, the writer Robert Merle chose to follow the fate of a family in rural 16th century France. True to the spirit of the novels, the television adaptation of Fortune de France blends small and large-scale history.
Jean de Siorac, played by Nicolas Duvauchelle, has converted to the ideas of the Reformation and wishes his family would do the same. But his wife Isabelle, portrayed by Lucie Debay, is a devout Catholic, as are their two sons and all their servants.
With his friend and brother-in-arms Jean de Sauveterre, played by Guillaume Gouix, the hero lives his faith in secret behind the walls of his castle in Mespech. When the king's investigators take an interest in his religious practices, his entire household is in danger.
4- It was directed by Christopher Thompson.
In the TV series Fortune de France, you might be surprised by the dialogues, which mix patois and old French… But you will mostly be captivated by the atmosphere that director Christopher Thompson has managed to create.
This Franco-American director, who is the son of Danièle Thompson and the grandson of Gérard Oury, already made a mark on television by directing the series Bardot last year.
With this new project, he offers us a radical change of era and setting. One of the strengths of this television adaptation is offering a very successful historical reconstruction, meticulously detailed.
5- It was entirely filmed in Périgord.
The Fortune de France series was filmed between February and June 2023 in the Dordogne department. Notably, the shooting took place entirely in Périgord and in natural settings.
The Château de Fénelon, located in the commune of Sainte-Mondane, was chosen to represent the Château de Mespech. However, several other castles in Dordogne also appear in this fiction.
Many local heritage sites were indeed used to set the scene for this grand historical fresco: the Château de Beynac (to depict the terrible castle of Baron de Frontenac), the chapel of the blue penitents of Sarlat, the inner courtyard of the Château de Biron, the priory of Merlande, and the Breuil huts!
Viewers will thus see on screen the sublime landscapes of Périgord where author Robert Merle loved to stroll.
