Lupin - A French Crime Caper

I think Netflix have had to resort to buying in more foreign language shows due to issues with production during the pandemic, but they had some anyway. I have enjoyed Dark from Germany and Ragnarok from Norway. The latest I have watched is Lupin. This follows the exploits of a thief who is inspired by the adventures Arsène Lupin who has been popular in France for over a century, although I had not heard of the books.

Looking at the trailer now is weird as I have watched the show with subtitles and the lead character, Assane Diop played by Omar Sy, sounds nothing like the extra butch dubbing actor they have used. My french is fairly bad, so I only understand the odd word. I still prefer to hear the original voices.

So far there have only been five episodes that left us on a cliff-hanger. Assane is trying to clear the name of his immigrant father who hanged himself after being framed for a theft. He has to use his skills of disguise and social engineering to the full as he fights against high level corruption.

There are flashbacks to Assane's childhood to set the scene with the rest set mostly in modern-day Paris.

It reminds me a lot of Sherlock with the clever plots and some of the classy filming style, so may appeal to the same audience. There is some violence that may make it unsuitable for younger children, but it is not too gory. I think it is fairly believable as a plot that could happen, but characters tend to be exaggerated in fiction.

I believe the writer, George Kay, is British. He and Omar Sy are interviewed here.

The next five parts should get released fairly soon. I have seen lots of online comments from people who are eagerly awaiting those.

I also finally finished watching Lost in Space, which I enjoyed. I am currently enjoying Snowpiercer, also on Netflix. My other half got into Line of Duty as the final series came out and binged the whole lot over a couple of weeks. It did not appeal so much to me as I prefer escapism to gritty realism.

Stay tuned!