Spiral (and other French police series)

[Stunsworth]

i cut my teeth on the wire, all five seasons in one week ....

They've been re-released recently in HD. I'm currently three episodes into the second series. It's just as good as I remembered it from the first time round.

[Nick Armstrong]

I love Roban, the unillusioned moral centre ...

[Nick Armstrong]

Why on earth is it called 'Spiral '? 'Engrenages' - (meshing, as of gears) conveys so much better the intricate relationships between the protagonists and the various forces of order involved, to say nothing of the meshing together of various interconnected plots.

I think they've chosen the French phrase "l'engrenage de la violence" which translates as "a spiral of violence" ... but that doesn't really work, as the word 'engrenages' in the plural, used for the title, has more the connotations you mention.

So vinrouge, what would your chosen English version of the title have been?

[Alain Maréchal]

I woudn't want to upstage M. Vinteuil, but when I saw the first series* my own internal translation was Cogwheels, because it seemed to cover the idea of characters' lives not necessarily touching each other, but being connected at some remove.

* Confession: I have seen half only of series one, and none of any other, but only because real life got in the way. I still have series one recorded and hope to finish it sometime. (This year looks probable). So, no spoilers please. In fact, series one has already been spoiled for me because my own chief suspect is still around in later series.

[Nick Armstrong]

* Confession

I hope not extracted by the switching off of a recording device and the unconvincing promise that "ça reste entre nous hein?"....

I haven't seen seasons 1 - 4 so please don't 'confess' who that chief suspect was!!

[vinteuil]

So vinrouge, what would your chosen English version of the title have been?

... tricky, isn't it?

My initial thought was somehow to use "Mesh", "Meshes" - which has the attraction of meaning both the engagement of cogs in gearing as well as the concept of woven networks, nets in which things could be caught etc...

Currently I'm favouring something which might involve* "Toils" - with its several meanings of verbal contention, dispute, strife, turmoil, struggle, laborious task, continuous work or exertion, nets enclosing a space into which a quarry is driven, a trap or snare etc.

* ... but also I think the word "involve" is good, might consider that...


In the end, I'll plump for "Imbrications"...

[Alain Maréchal]

[QUOTE=vinteuil;466254

In the end, I'll plump for "Imbrications"... [/QUOTE]

You sent me to my Collins-Robert and defeated it! Larousse doesn't help either.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

... Oh What Tangled Webs We Weave .... ??

[vinteuil]

Imbrications - the overlapping / interlocking of tiles...


Further thoughts - "Involutions" "Anfractuosities" ....




... or perhaps (thinking of M. Maréchal's cogs) - "Engagement". Yes, I think 'engagement' covers a sufficient range of meanings...





.

[vinteuil]

... and for those who want to find out something of the real world in which Spiral revolves -

http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2015/02/04/01016-20150204ARTFIG00171-perquisition-au-36-quai-des-orfevres-le-directeur-en-garde-a-vue.php

.

http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2015/02/04/le-directeur-de-la-police-judiciaire-parisienne-en-garde-a-vue_4569603_3224.html

.

Readers of Maigret will know 36 quai des Orfèvres as the headquarters of the Police Judiciaire of Paris -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direction_R%C3%A9gionale_de_Police_Judiciaire_de_Paris

.

[Nick Armstrong]

Imbrications - the overlapping / interlocking of tiles...


Further thoughts - "Involutions" "Anfractuosities" ....



... or perhaps (thinking of M. Maréchal's cogs) - "Engagement". Yes, I think 'engagement' covers a sufficient range of meanings...

I don't think Engagement quite hits the right notes ("Fiançailles", anyone?)

The title that had occurred to me but which isn't quite right either is

Machinations...

[Alain Maréchal]

"Machinations" seems to imply something underhand is going on.Something neutral might be better.

It has always seemed to me that part of the origin of the scandals at the top is their all knowing each other from their time together at the ENA: on graduating the choice of a career in politics or administration seems rather arbitrary. It became almost surreal in the last but one presidential election: Sarkozy, de Villepin, Hollande and Royale were all classmates. I kept in touch with my student friends, but we took up careers in different fields.

[kernelbogey]

Thanks to this thread and its contributors, I had a two-evening viewing of episodes 1 - 8 this week, and think it's superb - I agree better than the earlier series; and less violent, too. It's as though the actors have settled quite deeply into their roles: Berthaud, Karlsson and Roban are all superlative.

[kernelbogey]

[...]I don't think the subplots are at all dragging it down, au contraire, they are deft fleshings-out of the lives of the main characters, it seems to me, adding dimensions and traction to the main story. A particular case in point would be the impact on the action of what the disaffected wife of 'Tintin' did with his car[....]

Although I fundamentally agree with this I'm starting to lose track of all the interwoven plots and subplots (engrenages indeed) so that in last night's episodes I found myself wondering what the starting point was - oh yes the bodies in the river.... But the number of (relatively) minor characters - who's that woman? - seem greater than I remember from the earlier series.

Nonetheless

[Stunsworth]

And so it ends. Now a long wait for series 6.