Notre-Dame - Catedral em Chamas

Unlike many in here, I really enjoyed it. I cannot understand all the negative comments, many of them, to me so ignorant...... It was a fictional drama presented in an individual way.

I liked the way that the disparate stories, evidently from accounts of those involved in events of that night, wandered in and out.

The integration of real footage of the fire, with Netflix's art, was impressive.

However, it's a pity that so many found it so difficult to follow. I wondered if we all had watched the same series. Sometimes we have to get beyond having to have everything laid out before us.

I thought the acting was very good and .....

I get what they were trying to do here; the human stories of nine Parisians--during the night the cathedral burned and how the event was a common factor in all of them.

Except ... not really.

In theory, it could have been very good, and some parts, like the skill of the producers in integrating real footage of the fire with their film, is good.

It has a few excellent dramatic moments but although some of the story lines jell, others don't and most have nothing to do with the fire except as a momentary distraction.

I also get that in making a TV drama you have to take some license with reality. But the howlers about the firefighters pointed out by others here are valid. That lackadaisical treatment might have passed in 1960s or '70s but audiences are much more sophisticated now.

And I get that in real life, even during unfolding disasters, people aren't always focused on the event. The French pride themselves on their style and skill with psychology.

But the character who keeps saying that 'everyone remembers what they were doing when Michael Jackson died' is jarring. I don't. A lot of people don't. And in the context of a story what does this even mean?

Are we supposed to compare the burning of Notre-Dame of Paris to Jackson's death?

Good psychology in that it sticks on my mind but bad in that--besides the interspersed footage of the real fire--this maudlin comparison is going to be my takeaway.

That and the haunting suspicion that this whole thing was employed by the screenwriters as a vehicle for a lot of leftover plot notions rejected from other scripts and all crammed into this one.

Considered as a soap opera this would pass. As a soap opera with a fire in the background it stumbles along. As a drama about the fire itself--which is how it was sold to us--falls flat on its face. You're much better off just watching archived news reports.

This show is ok, its not fantastic, but not bad either.

This is not purely disaster thriller or some action peace, this is more of a day in person's life kinda show.

It follows multiple story lines that begin, evolve and conclude, not necessarily directly related to the fire. Stories are not very sophisticated, like boy looking for his dad or dad looking for his daughter, few flashbacks to give context to the characters.

Musical score is good, if you like symphonic orchestra, opera kind of music, its definitely one of the strong sides of this show. There were some moments without dialogue, just scenes with music.

So yes, its ok overall.

A notable series, following the events of Notre Dame, how the lives of several Parisians - Firefighters, Journalists, Citizens was involved in it. Also a progressive dive into each characters lives and the emotions attached with this historical monument simmers across each episode. Though created as a mini-series, each episode is about 45-50 minutes long which gives the director enough time to develop the story and piece it together along the way, with tiny glimpses into past moments. Dealing with loss, self identity, finding love amidst all this choas, are a few moments highlighted on this spectrum.

I admire Netflix for its internationally produced content. There are a lot of great production companies in the world besides what is regular fare in the continental US (aka superheroes, gunfights and cowboys).

This is a big budget Netflix series. You can tell by the effort to recreate the firefighting efforts that riveted the world for those 15 hours in April , 2019, the extras, the vfx, the general level of production standards.

But I actually had to stop watching like other reviewers mention (after ep.3)

The fire and the cathedral are the main "character" but take a backseat to maudlin characters in a US styled "Soapbox" like script.

Yes the production is trying to flesh out literally the human character aspects of a few selected courageous firefighters (plus a couple of reporters covering the fire) who put the fire out and saved many irreplaceable aspects of this world UNESCO heritage site and symbol of the French nation, including the pipe organs, the bells and stain glass windows (only the bells are actually portrayed being saved) with flashbacks, family issues and the like.

But there's a cardboard quality to these portrayals even when the characters are in the midst of the most intense situations. A kind of even-handedness to the level of intensity when really, with the whole cathedral in imminent danger, the script cuts away to some escort who has befriended a young African-French kid and whose father who runs a shop is trying to find her in time to say goodbye to her estranged, but dying mother.

There could have been so much more to up the level of intensity and focus more on the actual fire and the cathedral. For example, the audio levels of the fire burning is kept at an even output which does much to diminish its threat and dramatic character - even in close ups - when a ferociousness to the audio track would have done wonders to compliment the visual intensity of the flames. Its all watered down (no pun intended).

In the end there are a few genuine dramatic moments with the character portrayals by individual cast members, but for almost all intensive purposes drowned out by the overall script, the even-handedness of the filmic pace, the stultifying audio.