Hôtel
d'Évreux
The Count
of Évreux, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, circa 1720
The Hôtel
d'Évreux and its gardens circa 1737
The
architect Armand-Claude Molet possessed a property fronting on the road to
the village of Roule, west of Paris (now the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré), and
backing onto royal property, the Grand Cours through the Champs-Élysées. He
sold this in 1718 to Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Count of Évreux
(families: Dukes and Princes of Bouillon and Sedan: La Marck | von der Marck),
with the agreement that Mollet would construct an hôtel particulier for the
count, fronted by an entrance court and backed by a garden. The Hôtel d'Évreux
was finished and decorated by 1722, and though it has undergone many modifications
since, it remains a fine example of the French classical style. At the time of
his death in 1753, Évreux was the owner of one of the most widely admired
houses in Paris, and it was bought by King Louis XV as a residence for the
Marquise de Pompadour, his mistress. Opponents showed their distaste for the
regime by hanging signs on the gates that read: "Home of the King's
whore". After her death, it reverted to the crown.
In 1773, it
was purchased by Nicolas Beaujon, banker to the Court and one of the richest
men in France, who needed a suitably sumptuous "country house" (for
the city of Paris did not yet extend this far) to house his fabulous collection
of great masters paintings. To this end, he hired the architect Étienne-Louis
Boullée to make substantial alterations to the buildings (as well as design an
English-style garden). Soon on display there were such well-known masterpieces
as Holbein's The Ambassadors (now in the National Gallery in London), and Frans
Hals' Bohemian (now at the Louvre). His architectural alterations and art
galleries gave this residence international renown as "one of the premier
houses of Paris".
Royal and
Imperial Palace
The palace
and gardens were purchased from Beaujon by Bathilde d'Orléans, Duchess of
Bourbon in 1787 for 1,300,000 livres. It was the Duchess who named it the
Élysée. She also built a group of cottages in the gardens which she named the
Hameau de Chantilly, after the Hameau at her father-in-law's Château de
Chantilly. With the French Revolution, the Duchess fled the country and the
Élysée was confiscated. It was leased out. The gardens were used for eating,
drinking, and dancing, under the name Hameau de Chantilly; and the rooms became
gambling houses.
In 1803,
the Élysée was sold to Joachim Murat, and in 1808, to the Emperor, and it
became known as the Élysée-Napoléon. After the Battle of Waterloo, Napoléon
returned to the Élysée, signed his abdication there on 22 June 1815, and left
the Élysée on the 25th.
Russian
Cossacks camped at the Élysée when they occupied Paris in 1814. The property
was then returned to its previous owner, the Duchesse de Bourbon, who then sold
it to her royal cousin, Louis XVIII, in 1816.
Presidential
residence
Under the
provisional government of the Second Republic, it was called Élysée National
and was designated the official residence of the President of the Republic.
(The President also has the use of several other official residences, including
the Château de Rambouillet, forty-five kilometres southwest of Paris, and the
Fort de Brégançon near Marseille.)
In 1853,
following his coup d'état that ended the Second Republic, Napoléon III charged
the architect Joseph-Eugène Lacroix with renovations; meanwhile he moved to the
nearby Tuileries Palace, but kept the Élysée as a discreet place to meet his
mistresses, moving between the two palaces through a secret underground passage
that has since been demolished.[citation needed] Since Lacroix completed his
work in 1867, the essential look of the Palais de l'Élysée has remained the
same.
In 1873,
during the Third Republic, The Élysée became the official presidential
residence.
In 1899,
Félix Faure became the only French President to die in the palace.
In 1917, a
chimpanzee escaped from a nearby ménagerie, entered the palace and was said to
have tried to haul the wife of President Raymond Poincaré into a tree only to
be foiled by Élysée guards.President Paul Deschanel, who resigned in 1920 because
of mental illness, was said to have been so impressed by the chimpanzee's feat
that, to the alarm of his guests, he took to jumping into trees during state
receptions.
The Élysée
Palace was closed in June 1940, and remained empty during World War II. It was
reoccupied only in 1946 by Vincent Auriol, President of the provisional
government, then first President of the Fourth Republic from 1947 to 1954.
From 1959
to 1969, the Élysée was occupied by Charles de Gaulle, the first President of
the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle did not like its lack of privacy, and oversaw the
purchase of the luxurious Hôtel de Marigny to lodge foreign state officials in
visits to France, saying, "I do not like the idea of meeting kings walking
around my corridors in their pyjamas."
In the
1970s, President Georges Pompidou had some of the original rooms in the palace
redesigned by Pierre Paulin in the modern style, of which only the Salle à
Manger Paulin survives.
Socialist
President François Mitterrand, who governed from 1981 to 1995, is said to have
seldom used its private apartments, preferring the privacy of his own home on
the more bohemian Left Bank. A discreet flat in the nearby presidential annexe
Palais de l'Alma housed his mistress Anne Pingeot, mother of his illegitimate
daughter Mazarine Pingeot.
By
contrast, his successor Jacques Chirac lived throughout his two terms in office
(1995–2007) in the Élysée apartments with his wife Bernadette.
Chirac
increased the Palace's budget by 105% to 90 million euros per year, according
to the book L'argent caché de l'Élysée. One million euros per year is spent on
drinks alone for the guests invited to the Élysée Palace, 6.9 million euros per
year on bonuses for presidential staff and 6.1 million euros per year on the
145 extra employees Chirac hired after he was elected in 1995.
The Élysée
has gardens, in which presidents hosted parties on the afternoon of Bastille
Day until 2010. That year, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy decided to stop
organizing this event because of France's high debt and the economic crisis.
The heavily
guarded mansion and grounds are situated at 55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré at
its intersection with Avenue de Marigny [fr]. A monumental gate with four
iconic[clarification needed] columns, flanked by walls topped by a balustrade,
opens onto a large rounded courtyard. The majestic ceremonial courtyard imparts
a degree of grandeur to the house. The main residence is constructed in the
French classical style. An entrance vestibule is aligned with the ceremonial
courtyard and gardens. There is a long central building, a great — or State —
apartment divided in the middle by a large salon that opens into the garden.
This building also has a central three-storey section, and two single-floor
wings: the Appartement des Bains to the right, and the Petit Appartement
(private apartments) to the left. The French-style garden has a central path
aligned with the central building, patterned flowerbeds and alleys of chestnut
trees edged with hedgerows.
Ground
floor
Diagram of
the ground floor: 1/ Terrasse 2/ Salon d'argent 3/ Salle à Manger 4/
Bibliothèque 5/ Salon bleu 6/ Salon des Cartes 7/ Salle des fêtes 8/ Salon
Murat 9/ Salon des Aides de camps 10/ Salon des ambassadeurs 11/ Salon
Pompadour 12/ Salon des portraits 13/ Salon Cléopâtre 14/ Escalier Murat 15/
Vestibule d'honneur 16/ Salon des tapisseries 17/ Jardin d'hiver 18/ Salon
Napoléon III 19/ Cour d'honneur.
The
Vestibule d'Honneur (Hall of Honour) is the room which the main entrance to the
palace leads into. In this room the President of France meets visiting
officials, world leaders and spiritual leaders.
The Salon
d'Argent (Silver Room), in the east wing of the palace, was decorated by
Caroline Murat, wife of Joachim Murat and sister of Napoleon I. The room is so
called because of the silver coloured edges to the wall features, mantelpieces,
tables, sofas and armchairs, of which the last have swan sculptures at the
sides. Three notable historical events happened in this room. On 22 June 1815,
Napoleon formally signed his abdication warrant after losing the Battle of
Waterloo that year; on 2 December 1851 Louis Napoleon launched his coup d'état;
and in 1899, President Félix Faure met his mistress, Marguerite Steinheil.
The Salle à
Manger Paulin (Paulin Dining Room), named after its architect, Pierre Paulin,
is a complete contrast to most of the other rooms in the palace. It was
designed as a private dining room for President Georges Pompidou and his wife
Claude, and the interior and furniture date from the 1970s. The walls are made
of 22 polyester panels, the chairs have a single leg attached to a round base,
and the round table is made of glass. The room is lit by roof panels decorated
with glass balls and rods.
The Salon
des Portraits (Portrait Room) was used by the Emperor Napoleon III for portrait
medallions of the most important sovereigns of the time, replacing earlier
portraits of the Bonaparte family installed by Joachim Murat. The portraits are
of: Pope Pius IX, Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary, Queen Victoria of
the United Kingdom, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Tsar Nicholas I of
Russia, King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Queen Isabel II of Spain and King
William I of Württemberg. Previously a dining room, President Nicolas Sarkozy
used the room as his second office.
The Salle
des Fêtes (Hall of Festivities) dominates the west wing of the palace. It was
designed by Eugène Debressenne [fr] and opened on 10 May 1889 by the then
President, Sadi Carnot, to coincide with the Exposition Universelle that year.
The room has paintings on the ceiling called "La République sauvegarde la
Paix" (The Republic Safeguards Peace), painted by Guillaume Dubufe in
1894. There are also six Gobelins tapestries in the room, which is
predominantly laid out in red and gold decor. In 1984 President François
Mitterrand added ten windows to the room to let in more light. It is in this
room that all French Presidents are inaugurated, and where they host official
conferences and banquets.
The Jardins
d'Hiver (Winter Gardens) was built in 1883 as a greenhouse for growing plants.
Today it is no longer used for this purpose, being instead an extension of the
Salon des Fêtes, and used for official banquets. There is a Gobelins tapestry
on the wall, and three chandeliers hang from the ceiling.
The Salon
Murat (Murat Room) is used every Wednesday by the President for meetings with
the Prime Minister and Cabinet of France, along with the Presidential Secretary
(known as the "Secretary-General of the Élysée"). It was also in this
room that Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany, signed the Treaty of the
Élysée in 1963.
The Salon
Cléopâtre (Cleopatra Room) gets its name from a Gobelins tapestry on the wall,
installed during the presidency of Sadi Carnot, which depicts Antony and
Cleopatra meeting at Tarsus. Also in the room is a portrait of Maria Amalia,
Duchess of Parma, painted by Alexandre Roslin.[6]
The Salon
des Ambassadeurs (Ambassadors' Room) is where the French President officially
receives ambassadors from abroad.
The Salon
Bleu (Blue Room) is used as the office of the First Lady of France.
The
Escalier Murat (Murat Staircase) is the main staircase in the palace, linking
the ground and first floors.
LE BARON NOIR
Baron Noir season 3: criticism of a France on the brink of chaos
Alexander
Janowiak March 2, 2020 - UPDATE: 06/05/2020 23:43
Political Drama
Season 3 of Baron
Noir allows Canal - to confirm its status as the best creator of original
French series, far ahead of Netflix. The political series showrunned by Eric
Benzekri and carried by a determined Kad Merad is not always at its best in
these eight new episodes, but plays very skilfully the real and the fictional
to deliver a captivating story about the French political and societal world.
POWER GAMES
With these first
two episodes, this season 3 of Baron Noir has set the bar high. Its
ultra-promising beginning and its multiple stakes with its political chessboard
in full reshaping (especially with the departure of some main characters like
that of Cyril Balsan embodied by the excellent Hugo Becker) heralded a rather
mind-blowing fight between the characters and innovative ideas about French
politics.
However, very
quickly, the series is forgotten a little and sadly leaves to tick a few
mandatory boxes to fully anchor itself in the French reality, even global. One
thinks of course the accusations of sexual harassment of which the German
Chancellor is accused of resigning and drowning Françallemagne's ambitious
plans alongside Dorendeu.
This choice is
not fundamentally a bad thing, as the subject has become major in the public
debate. On the other hand, its importance is so minor at the heart of the story
that its approach lacks finesse, accuracy and above all sincerity and resembles
above all a gadget allowing the narrative to advance and kill the (false) great
ambitions installed, more than a real plea or simple denunciation.
This kind of
narrative misdirections will happen a few times during season 3 (not for the
same reasons) and will then sometimes prevent the good performance of the story
or in any case, take away some form of spontaneity and naturalness.
That said, this
reversal of situation that happens very quickly (from the 3rd episode
therefore) will obviously move the lines for the President of the French
Republic embodied by the magnetic Anna Mouglalis. Amélie Dorendeu wants to do
everything to avoid replaying her place in universal suffrage. The series
therefore has fun with the French institutions and tries to reshape the
political and constitutional landscape of France. The ideas are innovative,
quite amazing and making his political proposals electoral strategies makes
every thought, vision and design exciting.
It must be said
that the series enjoys an audience of screenwriters even more rooted in French
political history. In addition to Eric Benzekri (former collaborator of
Jean-Luc Mélenchon or Julien Dray), we find Thomas Finkielkraut (son of Alain)
or Raphael Chevènement (son of Jean-Pierre). No wonder, then, that the series
manages to be so precise and plausible about what it portrays of institutions
and politics.
INTIMATE
CONVICTION OR AMBITION?
However, Baron
Noir knows that politics is not just a matter of ideas or convictions. To the
public, voters, politics and de facto figure of politics are a matter of
magnetism, charisma, charm or at least image in the broadest sense. In the age
of social media, everything is known and everything is important, and Eric
Benzekri's series meticulously describes it in season 3.
At the same time
that the Parisian municipal women experienced an unprecedented turnaround with
the abandonment of Benjamin Griveaux (LREM candidate) at the Paris mayoralty
following the dissemination of private sexual images, Baron Noir gained credit
for his ability to play the fate of his characters on their image with French
citizens. More than a war of ideas, politics has undeniably turned into a war
of image and pageantry, and as the series says: "The presidential election
has become a television series".
The
much-anticipated (and much recommended) appearance by President Dorendeu in the
fictional show Ambition Intime presented by Karine Le Marchand is a striking
example, demonstrating how politics is taking a major turn. A turning point
where it is ultimately no longer the proposals that convince only, but also the
pace and form. De facto, all moves are allowed.
In this right
line, Baron Noir takes the lead on the emergence of a new form of politics with
the exciting character of Christophe Mercier (incredible Frédéric Saurel): an
anti-system SVT professor candidate for the election to the draw, a kind of mix
between the Yellow Jacket Jérôme Rodriguez, the Italian populist Beppe Grillo
and the American President Donald Trump.
His arrival at
the forefront offers both a totally new vision of the French political
landscape and is part of a fiction not so far removed from reality. If Coluche
frightened the Mitterrand - Chirac - Giscard generation in the 1980s with the
announcement of his candidacy, the current politicians are equally concerned
about a so-called clown candidacy imbued with anti-system pujadism and able to
bring back an electorate usually absentee in the polls (one obviously thinks of
Remi Gaillard in Montpellier or the rumors of candidacy of the flagship tv host
Cyril Hanouna in the presidential election).
It is a way to
launch major topics on the current functioning of the political system while
providing a captivating account of the inner workings of elections, government
formations and presidential debates. Politicians (or rather politicians) play
excessively with their functions, statutes and powers to ensure their
privileges rather than those of their fellow citizens. The backlash could well
hit them sooner or later, harder and faster than they think, and plunge France
into chaos.
IN ORDER OF
BATTLE
By pushing the
cursor this far, Eric Benzekri's series fits into a completely new register
that gives it a real breadth. While it presented itself primarily as a drama in
season 1 and then a political thriller in its season 2, the series becomes
almost a dystopia in this season 3. In Baron
Noir, disparaître le politics
politique is simply
disappearing and degagism
is on the way. Everything
could shift to another
power that is angry
and determined: that
of the people, buried
and contained for
the time being, but for how much longer? temps
Largely
driven by the current movements
and they very real, the Yellow Jackets Jaunes
therefore, the story of
this season 3
perfectly examines the major political issues that
stand dressent before
France today and
tomorrow. In addition to
being a
precise reflection on the
idea of sur retrouver politics, but also
of politique politique
politics itself and the
exemplarity demanded and
flouted of the function,these ten
episodes take an
intelligent look at an outdated
left that fails to find a new lease of life, the rise
of extremes or
the almostirretrievable divide between
the elites and the mass, and the tipping point that is likely to take place soon
(aslap as a catalyst?).
catalyseur
Baron Noir thus
succeeds very well after a slightly disappointing season 2. tête d'un Ultra-ambitious,ambitieuse pre-screensy
and captivating, this
season 3 offers a lot
of tense moments
during its eight
episodes, despite an extremely
repulsive staging (circular
traveling, it turns
tourner your head after a while).
Moreover, même beyonddelà this lack
of visual audacity, while
the production had
eu the chance to tour within
the Élysée,we can also
blame a lot of narrative
and rhythmic choices. .
After all, this
season 3 takes time
to launch the
real subject of its plot
(almostpresque five episodes). More than a
series about Rickwaert,
always impeccably interpreted
by Kad Merad
(evenmême if seeing him
bellow and come out of the
metaphors with a toit head-to-head champ
wears a little
in the long run) or a
series on politics
politique and its
workings,Baron Noir has
become a
portrait of French society in
this season 3. Much attention to Rickwaert's fate and
political resurrection takes the depth out of the series.
Finally, this
season 3 suffers from time ellipses far too important. In eight episodes,
nearly two years elapse, including a full one in the last two episodes. The
rush of writing often spoils the power of certain situations, especially given
the number of twists and different paths that each character can take in just a
few minutes.
Thus, several
passages and key moments of the plot do not have time to live on screen and to
make the spectators feel any emotion. A careless choice of writing that the
series sometimes tries to conceal by playing the card of the novel especially
in its grand finale. Unfortunately, the intention remains very fabricated and
the conclusion of this season 3 is above all a cliffhanger/twist terribly easy
and opportunistic to permanently eject one of his characters. It remains to be
seen, however, what he will provoke deep within Rickwaert in the potential
season 4.
The three seasons
of Baron Noir are available in full on Canal -Series.
Baron Noir
saison 3 : critique d'une France au bord du chaos
Alexandre
Janowiak | 2 mars 2020 - MAJ : 06/05/2020 23:43
Drame
Politique
La saison 3
de Baron Noir permet à Canal + de confirmer son statut de meilleur créateur de
séries originales françaises, très loin devant Netflix. La série politique
showrunnée par Eric Benzekri et portée par un Kad Merad déterminé n'est pas
toujours à son top dans ces huit nouveaux épisodes, mais joue très habilement
du réel et du fictionnel pour livrer une histoire captivante sur le monde
politique et sociétal français.
JEUX DE POUVOIR
Avec ces deux
premiers épisodes, cette saison 3 de Baron Noir a mis la barre haut. Son début
ultra prometteur et ses enjeux multiples avec son échiquier politique en plein
remodelage (d'autant plus avec le départ de certains personnages principaux
comme celui de Cyril Balsan incarné par l'excellent Hugo Becker) annonçaient un
combat assez hallucinant entre les personnages et des idées novatrices sur la
politique française.
Pourtant, très
rapidement, la série s'oublie un peu et part tristement cocher quelques cases
obligatoires pour s'ancrer pleinement dans la réalité française, voire
mondiale. On pense évidemment aux accusations de harcèlements sexuels dont est
accusé le chancelier allemand, obligé de démissionner et noyant les projets
ambitieux de Françallemagne aux côtés de Dorendeu.
Ce choix
n'est pas foncièrement une mauvaise chose, tant le sujet est devenu majeur au
sein du débat public. En revanche, son importance est tellement mineure au
coeur du récit que son approche manque de finesse, de justesse et surtout de
sincérité et ressemble avant tout à un gadget permettant au récit d'avancer et
de tuer les (fausses) grandes ambitions installées, plus qu'à un véritable
plaidoyer ou simple dénonciation.
Ce genre
d'égarements narratifs arrivera à quelques reprises durant cette saison 3 (pas
pour les mêmes raisons) et empêchera alors parfois la bonne tenue de l'histoire
ou en tout cas, lui retirera une certaine forme de spontanéité et de naturel.
Cela dit, ce
retournement de situation qui arrive très vite (dès le 3e épisode donc) va
évidemment bouger les lignes pour la présidente de la République française
incarnée par la magnétique Anna Mouglalis. Amélie Dorendeu veut tout faire pour
éviter de rejouer sa place au suffrage universel. La série s'amuse donc avec
les institutions françaises et essaye de remodeler le paysage politique et
constitutionnel de la France. Les idées sont novatrices, assez étonnantes et faire
de ses propositions politiques des stratégies électorales rend chaque pensée,
vision et conception passionnantes.
Il faut dire que
la série jouit d'un parterre de scénaristes encore plus ancré dans l'histoire
politique française. Outre Eric Benzekri donc (ancien collaborateur de Jean-
Luc Mélenchon ou Julien Dray), on y retrouve Thomas Finkielkraut (fils d'Alain)
ou encore Raphael Chevènement (fils de Jean-Pierre). Pas étonnant donc que la
série réussisse à être aussi précise et vraisemblable sur ce qu'elle dépeint
des institutions et la politique.
INTIME
CONVICTION OU AMBITION ?
Pour
autant, Baron Noir sait que la politique n'est pas uniquement une affaire
d'idées ou de convictions. Auprès du public, des électeurs, la politique et de
facto la figure du politique sont une affaire de magnétisme, de charisme, de
charme ou en tout cas d'image au sens le plus large. À l'heure des réseaux
sociaux, tout se sait et tout a une importance, et la série d'Eric Benzekri le
décrit méticuleusement dans cette saison 3.
Au moment
même où les municipales Parisiennes ont connu un retournement sans précédent
avec l'abandon à la mairie de Paris de Benjamin Griveaux (candidat LREM) suite
à la diffusion d'images sexuelles privées, Baron Noir gagne en crédit grâce à
sa capacité à jouer le destin de ses personnages sur leur image auprès des
citoyens français. Plus qu'une guerre d'idées, la politique s'est
indéniablement transformée en une guerre d'image et d'apparat, et comme la
série le dit : "La présidentielle est devenue une série télévisée".
Le passage
très attendu (et tant recommandé par ses conseillers) de la présidente Dorendeu
dans l'émission fictive Ambition Intime présentée par Karine Le Marchand en est
un exemple frappant, démontrant à quel point la politique prend un tournant
majeur. Un tournant où ce n'est finalement plus les propositions qui convainquent
uniquement, mais aussi l'allure et la forme. De facto, tous les coups sont
permis.
Dans cette
droite lignée voire plus encore, Baron Noir prend les devants sur l'émergence
d'une nouvelle forme de politique avec le personnage passionnant de Christophe
Mercier (incroyable Frédéric Saurel) : un prof de SVT candidat anti-système
pour l'élection au tirage au sort, sorte de mélange entre le Gilet Jaune Jérôme
Rodriguez, le populiste italien Beppe Grillo et le président américain Donald
Trump.
Son arrivée
sur le devant de la scène offre à la fois une vision totalement inédite du
paysage politique français et s'inscrit dans une fiction pas si éloignée de la
réalité. Si Coluche a effrayé la génération Mitterrand - Chirac - Giscard dans
les années 80 avec l'annonce de sa candidature, les politiques actuels
s'inquiètent tout autant d'une candidature dite clown empreinte de poujadisme
anti-système et capable de rameuter un électorat habituellement absentéiste
dans les urnes (on pense évidemment à Remi Gaillard à Montpellier ou les
rumeurs de candidature de l'animateur phare de la télévision Cyril Hanouna à la
présidentielle 2022).
C'est le
moyen de lancer des sujets majeurs sur le fonctionnement actuel du système
politique tout en offrant un récit captivant sur les rouages des élections, des
formations gouvernementales et des débats présidentiels. Les politiques (ou
plutôt politiciens) jouent démesurément avec leurs fonctions, leurs statuts et
leurs pouvoirs pour assurer leurs privilèges plutôt que ceux de leurs
concitoyens. Le retour de bâton pourrait bien les frapper un jour ou l'autre,
plus durement et rapidement qu'ils ne le pensent, et plonger la France dans le
chaos.
EN ORDRE DE
BATAILLE
En poussant
le curseur aussi loin, la série de Eric Benzekri rentre dans un registre
totalement nouveau qui lui donne une véritable ampleur. Alors qu'elle se
présentait avant tout comme un drame dans sa saison 1 puis un thriller
politique dans sa saison 2, la série devient quasiment une dystopie dans cette
saison 3. Dans Baron Noir, la politique est tout simplement en passe de
disparaître et le dégagisme est en marche. Tout pourrait basculer vers un autre
pouvoir en rogne et déterminé : celui du peuple, enfoui et contenu pour le
moment, mais pour encore combien de temps ?
Largement poussée par les mouvements actuels et eux bien
réels, les Gilets Jaunes donc, l'histoire de cette saison 3 ausculte à
merveille les enjeux politiques majeurs qui se dressent devant la France
d'aujourd'hui et de demain. En plus d'être une réfléxion précise sur l'idée de
la politique, mais aussi du politique en lui-même et de l'exemplarité exigée et
bafouée de la fonction, ces dix épisodes portent un regard intelligent sur une
gauche dépassée qui n'arrive pas à retrouver un nouveau souffle, de la montée
des extrêmes ou encore de la fracture quasi-irrémédiable entre les élites et la
masse, et la bascule qui risque de s'opérer prochainement (une baffe comme
catalyseur ?).
Baron Noir
réussit donc très largement son retour après une saison 2 légèrement décevante.
Ultra-ambitieuse, précurseuse et captivante, cette saison 3 offre de
sacrés moments de tensions durant ses huit épisodes, malgré une mise en scène
extrêmement rébarbative (les travelings circulaires, ça fait tourner la tête au
bout d'un moment). D'ailleurs, au-delà de ce manque d'audace visuelle, alors
que la production a eu la chance de tourner au sein même de l'Élysée, on pourra
également reprocher énormément de choix narratifs et rythmiques.
Après tout, cette saison 3 met du temps à lancer le
véritable sujet de son intrigue (presque cinq épisodes). Plus qu'une série sur
Rickwaert, toujours impeccablement interprété par Kad Merad (même si le voir
beugler et sortir des métaphores à toit bout de champ use un peu à la longue)
ou une série sur la politique et ses rouages, Baron Noir est devenue un
portrait de la société française dans cette saison 3. S'attarder énormément sur le destin de Rickwaert
et sa résurrection politique ôte de la profondeur au propos de la série.
Enfin, cette
saison 3 subit des ellipses temporelles bien trop importantes. En huit
épisodes, près de deux années s'écoulent, dont une entière au sein des deux
derniers épisodes. La précipitation de l'écriture gâche souvent la puissance de
certaines situations, d'autant plus au vu du nombre de rebondissements et de
chemins différents que peut prendre chaque personnage en seulement quelques
minutes.
Ainsi, plusieurs
passages et moments clés de l'intrigue n'ont pas le temps de vivre à l'écran et
de faire ressentir une quelconque émotion aux spectateurs. Un choix d'écriture
négligeant que la série essaye de dissimuler parfois en jouant la carte du
romanesque notamment dans son grand final. Malheureusement, l'intention reste très
fabriquée et la conclusion de cette saison 3 est avant tout un cliffhanger/twist
terriblement facile et opportuniste pour éjecter définitivement un de ses
personnages. Reste à voir cependant ce qu'il provoquera au plus profond de
Rickwaert dans la potentielle saison 4.
Les trois
saisons de Baron Noir sont disponibles en intégralité sur Canal + Séries.
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