In the timbers of Fennario
Wolves are runnin’ ’round…
— Hunter/Garcia; Dire Wolf
The Almighty Algorithm is on to me. It knows that I’m a sucker for dark, gloomy, possibly sinister forests; folklore; atmospheric folk music…
I had not heard of the French/Belgian production Zone Blanche until this morning. Two seasons of it have been released in America on Netflix, under the title Black Spot. Not that Black Spot. As far as I know, there are no pirates tipping that mark of doom, though I would not be adverse to such doings showing up in a contemporary crime drama. Anyway, here’s the caper (courtesy of Old Ain’t Dead):
The series is set in a heavily forested area in a town called Villefranche. The head of the police department Laurène Weiss (Suliane Brahim), called The Major by her officers, investigates a string of deaths and inexplicable events.
The Steiner family owns the town. Bertrand Steiner (Samuel Jouy), the Mayor, runs the sawmill and several other businesses. The two overarching storylines for the whole of season 1 involve his missing daughter and activities against the Steiners and their businesses from a group of protestors called Children of Arduinna.
Mixed in with those overarching storylines, each of the 8 episodes has its own mysterious event. There are deaths, kidnapped babies, lost cavers, gangs of criminals, dead farmers, predatory heroes, protests, high school initiation ceremonies, and other always suspenseful events. They all require a foray into the creepy dark forest, or creepy dark caves, or creepy dark barns, or creepy dark houses.
The series is all atmospheric touches – dark settings, lots of mist and fog, prophetic crows who are almost actors in the drama, bones and stuffed creatures everywhere. The forest might be alive, or the trees might be alive and vindictive, or there might be some shadowy presence in the forest – it is implied but not revealed in season 1. There are meaningful symbols and friendly wolves.
Well, all of that cloverleafs in the black for me. French Fennario. The titular “white zone” or “black spot” is a nice touch; for … reasons.. technology is glitchy in these parts, as it so often is in Fennario. That opens up some possibilities. The setting (and filming) is in the Vosges Mountains, on the eastern border of France, not far from Germany’s Black Forest (HQ of the Brothers Grimm). It was the site of some nasty fighting in both World Wars. Both literally and figuratively, a frontier zone.
I searched up soundtrack music, which is atmospheric and folk-based. Music is a tone-setter for me, and I like this tone quite a lot.
So… yeah. I’ll watch it in French with English subs because dubbing is of the devil.
Matthew says
Sounds interesting.
I used to watch two French series Spiral, which is about police work in France, and A French Village, which is about life under the Nazi occupation. Both were good shows. Unfortunately, the both disappeared from Hulu. (Though I know they have the complete series of both at my local library.)
Both were subs. I am not particular about subs and dubs. It is hugely debated in anime fandom which is better. It depends a lot. Some anime have real good dubs and some don’t. I might be more tolerant of dubs in animation. That said I once watched the Great Silence, a spaghetti western, in sub and it was jarring to see all these characters who are American speaking Italian! It was still a good movie but it took sometime getting use to.
Monk says
Hey, why not have a look at what John Sayles is putting out next March ?
JimC says
OK — you have my full attention.
JimC says
Oh. My.
Sandy dean says
I love and watched have watched this black spot show over And over, I love the setting and the actors, pleas make more seasons, thank everyone for making this series, thank you for a very loved show,