While I don't want to criticise AntonApple's comments, I have to make the following points. The series was not filmed in France but Hungary (with Budapest standing in for Paris) and there are several items such as newspapers which give the date very firmly as 1955, not the late 1930's.
This is a very good entry in the Michael Gambon 'Maigret' series (in fact it is the last of them) which conveys very well the murky, confusing world Simenon writes about. Investigating the murder of a middle-aged small-town man Maigret crosses swords with the man's maidservant. She is an eccentric character who dresses flamboyantly and refuses to be described as an employee of the dead man. She is openly unpleasant to Miagret and keeps a secret diary where she writes longingly about her lover and the bliss of their reunions. Susie Lindeman plays the part extremely well.
It is Maigret's insight into human nature which reveals all this as fantasy. She is simply a lonely and romantic young woman who wants more excitement than her provincial life as a servant can offer. Despite her hostility he comes to like her, she warms to him, and this development in their relationship is very well displayed in the short time of the programme.
As is often the case with Simenon the murder is the result of events far removed from the immediate circumstances of the crime.
This is a very good entry in the Michael Gambon 'Maigret' series (in fact it is the last of them) which conveys very well the murky, confusing world Simenon writes about. Investigating the murder of a middle-aged small-town man Maigret crosses swords with the man's maidservant. She is an eccentric character who dresses flamboyantly and refuses to be described as an employee of the dead man. She is openly unpleasant to Miagret and keeps a secret diary where she writes longingly about her lover and the bliss of their reunions. Susie Lindeman plays the part extremely well.
It is Maigret's insight into human nature which reveals all this as fantasy. She is simply a lonely and romantic young woman who wants more excitement than her provincial life as a servant can offer. Despite her hostility he comes to like her, she warms to him, and this development in their relationship is very well displayed in the short time of the programme.
As is often the case with Simenon the murder is the result of events far removed from the immediate circumstances of the crime.