Paris Police 1905

The sequel to Fabien Nury's period French Noir 'Paris Police 1900' is more of a slowburn than the first series. You don't get to know the important details of 'Paris 1905' until the final episode, so a bit more patience is needed. I kept thinking to myself "Well, I'm enjoying this, but is it really as good as the first one?". I'm not sure. I still love its attention to period detail, real life historic events, amazing sets and props, great filming technique, gripping drama and action, a credit to everybody involved in its production and a work of art you could say! But the subject matter of the second series is a bit obscure (also sleazy, but I guess that's the point, Paris social underbelly etc?), and, as another reviewer has pointed out, the writers occasionally fall into explaining language which suggests some sort of confusion in the plot. Most of the characters that we grew to love in the first series are still there, retired Prefect of Police Louis Lépine ("the little man with the big stick") played by Marc Barbé is now bereaved as his wife died of Sepsis, and is joined by his daughter Louise (Mathilde Weil), maverick officer Joseph Fiersi (Thibault Evrard) is adjusting to retired life, and, of course, it's still hard to resist the secret love between detective Antoine Jouin (Jérémie Laheurte), now 'happily' married, supposedly, and lawyer Jeanne Chauvin (Eugénie Derouand). Among other things, of course, lots of interesting stories continue to be woven into the main plotline. That said, I found it hard to get totally into 'Paris Police 1905', but held on until it came good in the end, patience! Good that BBC Four and iPlayer have made the Canal+ series available in the UK. I hope the makers decide to continue, as I'm sure there are loads more events they could feature around the turn of the century in Paris.

This sequel is, unsurprisingly, set five years after the events of 'Paris Police 1900'. Detective Antoine Jouin's new case involves the death of a man found shot in the Bois de Boulogne, an area frequented by those seeking sexual company, female or male. He has been shot four times in the head but surprisingly it is thought it might be a suicide. In the city there is a clampdown on prostitution; a woman is picked up and protests that her baby is alone at home. In what follows we see the seedier side of Parisian life, at both higher and lower echelons of society.

I thought this was a solid sequel. While it isn't essential to have seen 'Paris Police 1900' it certainly does help as that introduces certain key characters. The story is interesting, as are the characters. The series captures the feel of the era with some atmospheric camera work and period references; I particularly enjoyed the senior officer in his new car... pure 'Mr Toad'! The cast did an impressive job bringing the characters to life. Overall I'd certainly recommend this, especially to anybody who enjoyed the previous series.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

The cast--most of them anyway--from Paris Police 1900 are back, and we are satisfied that the attention to detail that marked the first series has carried forward here. Jeremie Laheurthe plays Jouin as rigidly as before--God, this man is boring--but there are fascinating characters around him. Meg Steinheil is as cold and calculating as ever, and her doomed husband Alphonse, the painter who's slowly going mad with syphilis, is both touching and repellent.

The ambience of the Bois de Boulogne is well described, men cruising for sex in the winter mist (excellent cinematography here) under the watchful eyes of the police. The morals squad is as disgusting as you would expect, given the time and the social conditions. An excellent evocation of Paris of a century ago.

So coming off the back of that amazing season 1, I wasn't sure I was going to warm as much to season 2 after the first episode. Season 2 starts slower but then revs up and the last few episodes are amongst the show's best. Replacing the political backdrop of season 1's antisemitism, this season zeroes in on a corrupt vice squad and the blackmail of sex workers and their clients. This backdrop provides another gritty context for the human drama to play out between police, politicians, the church and the bourgeoisie. Nearly all of the characters from season 1 have returned 5 years later, and this season continues the excellent script and engaging characterisations as well as that gorgeous cinematography and set design. The oppressive sexual politics of early twentieth century life is on full display and the descent into the corrupt netherworld is a gripping ride! Recommended!

This is unique in giving me the feeling that I am watching, not a period drama, but action filmed at the time. The creators must have started with actual footage from the time then built on it to give us a macabre version of actual events twisted and hacked beyond the possible. I keep on expecting to see Monsieur Proust lurking in the shadows. I might add that I am a fan of Frank Tallis's Liebermann novels set in Vienna at the same period, and I so wish the Paris Police team had had the job of bringing them to television. Will there be a Paris Police 2010? And the horrors of 1915? I am sure they would be well worth waiting for!