Spiral (and other French police series)

[Nick Armstrong]

Got up to date by watching the three latest back-to-back yesterday. Brilliant stuff, gripping on every level.

[Stanfordian]

if I ever have to undergo a brain biopsy I must remember to ask for a general rather than local anaesthetic "keep your head still" seems to be excellent advice when confronted by a man wielding a power drill !

What a nice thought!

[alywin]

Yet another reason why the French title 'engrenages' [ cogs, gears... ] is so much better than the naff 'Spiral'. Indeed it is "la mécanique implacable de la Justice à travers les enquêtes croisées d'un procureur, une capitaine de police, un juge et une avocate" as their publicity has it.

Yep, I always wondered whether someone just grabbed a French-English dictionary, looked it up and went "Oh, "spiral" - that'll do" without reading any further. Although nobody I've ever asked has come up with a better idea ...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"Machinations"?
"Wheels Within Wheels"??
"Epicycles"???

[vinteuil]

.

... we worrited abt the translation of this back in 2015 - from the archive :

04-02-15, 12:35
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"...
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...
The title that had occurred to me but which isn't quite right either is

Machinations...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

"Meshinations"?
"This is Another Fine Mesh You've Gotten Me Into, Laure"?

[kernelbogey]

"Meshinations"?
"This is Another Fine Mesh You've Gotten Me Into, Laure"?

Le Boss: What gear were you in when you began following the suspect, Gilou?

Gilou: Zut alors, my usual jeans and T shirt, Boss!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Given the new boss's close encounter with the loo, perhaps "Laure and Ordure"?

[underthecountertenor]

Well if you look at the credits, the BBC seems to have had more input than that - while not exactly a co-production, the series is credited as being "in association with BBC Four". I wonder what that represented in terms of involvement.[/QUOTE]

When French viewers see 'en association avec BBC Four', do they wonder why a cookery channel is involved in the making of Engrenages?

[Nick Armstrong]

Le Boss: What gear were you in when you began following the suspect, Gilou?

Gilou: Zut alors, my usual jeans and T shirt, Boss!

Given the new boss's close encounter with the loo, perhaps "Laure and Ordure"?

When French viewers see 'en association avec BBC Four', do they wonder why a cookery channel is involved in the making of Engrenages?

[underthecountertenor]

And, speaking of cookery, did anyone else relish the scene in which Gilou (aka Gilles Escoffier) was present at a conversation involving an eggs and omelettes metaphor?

[Stunsworth]

Only four more episodes to go. M Karlsson (with two ‘s’s as she pointed out) is not a women to be trifled with. But poor Roban, as expected just wanting the facts about the prognosis.

I thought the most touching scene this week was Gilou explaining his childhood to Laure. Very well written and acted.

[DracoM]

Well, I'm sorry, but Spiral has got more and more sidetracked into pretty obvious 'uman intress', and further and further away from the very serious corruption themes in number of areas this series is investigating - or I thought they were so doing.

Is that the influence of BBC4 mentioned in credits?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Is that the influence of BBC4 mentioned in credits?

You asked this in #126, too, DracoM - I don't know the answer, but if it is I feel that is something to celebrate. The complexity and insight of this series make it one of the most superb police dramas I have ever seen. I am absolutely hooked by the fizzing scripts, performances, and production - by far the most engaging ( ) drama currently on TV.

[DracoM]

Of course, not saying the 'uman intress' is in itself not worth doing, nay, doing as well as it is here, but........
Silent Witness has gone the same way as well.

My quarrel is that the themes of corruption, rape, the practice of the law on both sides seem to me to be huge topics, and worth pursuing, but getting it on inside a van deliberately scheduled for quiet surveillance seems...well, a bit odd, and even a real anti-climax [sorry - pun not intended]. Just seems a bit undermining.