Marseille

It took some patience, but now Netflix has a flag on the world map in almost every country. What that frustrated little Frenchman and Austrian just didn't want to succeed, the largest online provider of films and series has managed to achieve in a fairly short time. World domination! "Nice for them ...", I hear you think, "... but what good is that, if they have also announced that it is no longer possible to browse the range of those foreign Netflixes?". Well, more than you think. Now that large countries such as Spain, Italy and Australia have access to Netflix, it is also becoming increasingly interesting to craft Netflix Originals for those markets and if they make them, we can watch them! How nice is that? Recently, for example, it came out that they are already busy with their first Original in Germany and Netflix France is also on top with their first homegrown, Marseille. Robert Taro is mayor of Marseille. He loves his city. A lot of. You could even say that Robert is happier on Marseille than on his wife. That's pretty serious, because Taro's wife is a tremendous beauty with skills. Not that it would have been any less serious if she was ugly and could not do anything, but well. I digress. After twenty years of wielding the scepter, he thinks it has actually been enough. The official dinners with figures that you would walk around with an enormous circle in other circumstances, the interviews with the same questions over and over again and the heavy burden it puts on his private life, he is done with it. To rule is to foresee - or in Taro's case, not to rule is to foresee - so he has been working on his succession for a while. In the wings, he whispers to his protégé Lucas Barrès all the tips & tricks for successful mayorship, which he will be able to put into practice after the impending elections. However, when his student sews him an ear completely unexpectedly, he puts his pension in the fridge and the two cross swords for the largest seat in the college of Mayor and Aldermen. Exciting! Here and there I saw that Marseille is compared to House Of Cards. That is of course a bit silly. The fact that two old white guys on Netflix do something about politics does not mean that you can immediately compare it with each other with impunity. If you really want comparison material, think of it as the French answer to Boss. "Is Marseille as cool as Kelsey Grammer, who rules Chicago with a steel fist as a power hungry mayor, yes?" No. Unfortunately. Enough is happening and you can easily look it away in one go, but something with it. Somehow I just don't quite feel it. Depardieu's acting is nowhere near as impressive as his stature. Jesus, how fat that guy has become. You can see from everything that acting is very easy for Rutger Hauer of France, but he still fails to leave his mark like Grammer and, if we have to mention him, Spacey did in Boss and House Of Cards. Barrès is a lot more outspoken in that respect, but so much so that it almost becomes a caricature. I liked being annoyed by his arrogant face and attitude - call it self-flagellation - but I can also imagine that you are doing very badly. The story also feels a bit light. Plot twists are easy and quite predictable. You are not really surprised, say. If you pay attention, that is. It is all in French and that is of course always good. There is also a budding breast every now and then, but I would have preferred a little less meat and some more good lyrics. And waddup with that audio design? It seems as if they bought the background music of 1 against 100 and Lotto Weekend Millionaires for next to nothing. Well, he can do that again. It's not all that serious. I just had very high hopes for this one and therefore am perhaps a bit underwhelmed. This is a cross between disappointed and dissatisfied, but in English. I just speak. Unlike French. Malheure entertainment.

I am only 3 episodes away but I think it is just not what it could be. Visually it is all very nice, but I cannot say that this series really grabs you by the throat, it all remains just a bit too superficial for that. Perhaps this is due to some of the storylines that run through it without seeming to add anything to the story, such as those of the mayor's daughter's boyfriends. However, all ingredients, including all clichés, are present, but I just miss some depth so far.