French cinematography is a developing yet a very interesting industry, that produces in my opinion some of the best European movies, TV series and documentaries. The stories they are telling, the chosen characters and the talented actors are some of the aspects that make them worth watching and appreciating. One of the series that will surely captivate your attention is called “Le Bazar de la Charité”.
This is a French historical drama inspired by true events. It is a miniseries of 8 episodes, created by Catherine Ramberg and directed by Alexandre Laurent. It tells the story of the tragic event that took place in Paris in 1897 when a huge fire transformed into ashes the wooden building that hosted every year a charity event. The fire took the lives of over 130 women and injured another hundreds. This is presented only in the first episode, while the consequences that follow are the main subject of the series, making it a very captivating and dramatic follow for justice.
The story that follows is fictive, but it is a great representation of French society in the XIX century and the relations between the bourgeois and the poor.
After the fire, we assist at the dramatic destiny of three women (Adrienne De Lenverpré, Alice De Jeans and her maid, Rose Rivière) and their journey for justice, each one of them being some strong, empowering feminine characters inspired by love and faith.
Adrienne’s husband is a powerful political rich man who wants to find someone to blame, from the poor anarchists, in order to make his political agenda in his favor, even though the fire burst by accident.
There is also a critique addressed to the high-class men that didn’t even try to help the women to escape the fire and instead the simple people around the building did, becoming the true heroes. So, the series becomes more then a historical drama, it also involves true acts of courage, identity theft, faked deaths, betrayals, political injustice and love of all kinds.
