Friday 24 July 2020

Découvrez le Palais de l’Elysée à Paris / TV Baron Noir season 3: criticism of a France on the brink of chaos




 The Élysée Palace (French: Palais de l'Élysée is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was initially built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne. It was used as the office of the French President for the first time in 1848. The current building contains the presidential office and residency, as well as the meeting place of the Council of Ministers. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, the name Élysée deriving from Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed dead in Greek mythology. Important foreign visitors are hosted at the nearby Hôtel de Marigny, a palatial residence.


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 des Ambassadeurs
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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