U.S Premiere! We’re proud to announce MHz Choice will premiere six new episodes of critically-acclaimed series A French Village (Un village français) on February 14th!
Now Streaming!
Winner of the Sériemania Best Series Award and two-time nominee for Best Television Film or Television Series at the Globes de Cristal Awards, this next chapter is the beginning of the end of this compelling series.
Season 6 takes place in the fall of 1945, and deals with the fallout from the years of the Occupation, with a special focus on the characters’ memories of those years. As series creator/head writer Frédéric Krivine said in a recent interview with France 3’s Un village français website: “All the characters have a different perspective, and we will show the public why ten, 20, 40 years later, there is not a single memory of this period, but many… Each individual is a historian of their own history.”
Some of these flashbacks were taken from previous episodes, but many were scripted and filmed especially for this new season, revealing previously untold incidents from the years 1940-1945, thus making Season 6 not just a continuation of these characters’ stories, but also reflections of their past. “Usually I’m not a fan of flashbacks in movies or TV,” Krivine said, “but here their use is perfectly justified since each character must relive an event, or start telling what happened. It was therefore normal to revisit the film history of each of the protagonists.”
The use of flashbacks is well integrated into the drama, particularly in the extensive courtroom scenes involving the trials of Daniel Larcher and Servier. Other characters, already tried and convicted, reappear in court to act as witnesses. Characters outside the courtroom also naturally lend themselves to the flashback format: a demobilized Antoine returns home to Villeneuve and reunites with Genevieve; Raymond and Jeannine, apart since 1942, find themselves drawn back together by convergent economic and political interests; Hortense, mentally unbalanced and shunned by all, clings desperately to her memories of Heinrich Müller; and young Gustave, now 15 and dabbling in the black market, discovers and is inspired by the Socialist ideals of his late father.
In the interview, Krivine noted that, “Often, TV series stop due to external constraints: audience, economic factors, etc. We, from the start of A French Village, knew there would be 72 episodes and that the story would end in 1945. This allows us to plan a harmonious end, and we are indeed looking forward to it.” Season 7, comprising episodes 67-72, is currently in production and will tentatively premiere later this year.
In the meantime, Season 6 premieres February 14th exclusively on MHz Choice!
