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richard-hull
Reviews
Maigret (1959)
Classic - captured mood and style of Simenon's books
Well, that's according to my memories, anyway. I was an avid Simenon reader at the time - I think I've read nearly every Maigret story - and I totally loved this series. Simenon's Maigret stories are very difficult for directors and actors to adequately capture because he builds up an atmosphere using all the senses, not just the visual and aural. He also develops the atmosphere gradually - Maigret's or someone else' health, the drinks and food he consumes, Maigret's ponderings on the crime or the criminal, the weather. That atmosphere is also tied in with the specific psychological aspects of each case - Simenon was fairly obsessed with exploring the psychodynamics of pathological behaviour, and very much in the style of psychoanalytic descriptions and explanations. I don't recall seeing any other adaptation of the Maigret novels that came as close as this series. I wish it were available.
The Wire (2002)
Two moments (out of many) of pure genius
1. Series 1, episode 4, 'Old Cases'. McNulty and and Bunk visit the scene of an old (unsolved or mis-solved, can't remember) murder. They then re-enact elements of the murder, commenting as they go with only the F-word and variations of it, but in different tones and expressions. They say more with these tones and expressions than could ever be said with words in the time available. As another comment noted it also demonstrates the deep form of interaction between the 2 cops.
I think it says much more than that. It says the 2 cops have such a deep, intuitive, almost telepathic understanding of the other's way of working that they only need tones and expressions, not 'ordinary' conversation with explicit words and sentences. Good professionals working together in extreme and disturbing circumstances - emergency services, armed forces, school teachers - will often develop this form of empathy, partly to save time when time is precious, partly because words fail.
It also says how stupid and harmful is unthinking censorship of swear words. Derek & Clive (Pete Cook & Dudley Moore) made fun out of such censorship. The Wire's scriptwriters make the more serious point - by censoring representations of the ways people really communicate, you are censoring our proper understandings of human communication.
2. Series 4, episode 1, 'Boys of Summer'. A perfect back-and-forth juxtaposition of two futile, even dangerous attempts by management to teach their grandmothers how to suck eggs. A training session for school teachers, and a briefing session for police officers. Both have 'presenters' who clearly know nothing about their audience or their situation, using the same powerpoint slides they use for every such presentation, and both getting rightly barracked by their audience. If only all students and staff were as sceptical and willing to challenge their so-called educators and managers.