On Monday night, Caroline Proust and Audrey Fleurot were guests on Canal+'s prime access talk show, Le Grand Journal (Mondays to Fridays, 7:10pm-8:53pm).
The video below is the last portion of the show, "Le Grand Journal - La Suite" (8:30pm to 8:53pm).
The part about Engrenages is from 11:28' to 16:35'.
In the translation below I voluntarily didn't 'adapt' much of what they say, it's not a rough translation but it's not always proper English phrasing either. I did that so that some of you could follow more easily with the video.
Michel Denisot (host) : So this is a success that is in its fourth season : Engrenages (Spiral).
Daphné Burkï (co-host) : So the first two episodes will be on the air right after Le Grand Journal. In the meantime, we will welcome two of its prominent figures.
Michel : Audrey Fleurot and Caroline Proust.
[They arrive]
Daphné : Oh, everyone says 'hello'... there's only girls left on this set ! Women ! Well, there's one man.
Michel : So, season 4 — thanks, Daphné — with still the same basis that have made the success. Centered, it's very centered on current events (detention centers, sans papiers, measures of Sarkozy's term). Is being firmly anchored in today's world one the keys of the success of the show ?
Caroline Proust (Laure Berthaud) : Precisely. Engrenages is probably the French series that it the most accurate to the world its stories depict. The cops are in cars… that are shit, to follow bandits who have big cars. So we're at the closest of reality, the writers work with legal consultants.
Michel : The evolution of the laws… from day to day--
Caroline : Exactly.
Michel : -- lawyers in interrogation rooms... as time goes by.
Audrey Fleurot (Joséphine Karlsson) : It's great because without being a documentary, it allows to concretely understand the consequences of these laws.
Daphné : It's a cult show, I was fortunate enough to see season 4 and it's completely insane. The press is unanimous, btw. Even Les Inrocks !
Audrey Pulvar (head writer of Les Inrockuptibles, who happened to be a guest) : What does that mean, "even Les Inrocks"? [on an amused tone].
Natacha Polony (former colleague of Audrey Pulvar) : Well then it means it's true.
Daphné Burkï : Everyone… everyone agrees and also, it's been 2 years that we were waiting to see what was next. Maybe it's another key of the success, that it takes 2 years to write, to prepare, it's one big load of work !
Audrey Fleurot : 12 episodes, it's a lot, and if we want to maintain the quality, it's… well, there you go.
Daphné : Like a feature film, even more.
Audrey : More.
Michel : Are you involved in the writing process, since you've been there since day one.
Audrey : Uh, no, but--
Caroline Proust & Audrey Fleurot, together : … we're about to be.
Audrey : We're pretty happy, yeah. Because at one point, we own a little bit of the characters too, and we start to know how they talk, how they move, and so it's true it's a little frustrating not to be able to participate, and now they start to ask us, and we're pleased.
Daphné : So now we're gonna see an extract--
Daphné & Michel, together : -- where there's both of you.
Audrey Fleurot, whispering to Caroline Proust : There's not many of them.
The extract (of a scene taken from episode 4.01) :
Laure Berthaud : What are you doing here, counselor ?
Joséphine Karlsson : I'm replacing the public defender.
Laure : The custody told me she had no lawyer. I've no reason to trust you.
Joséphine : If you have time to lose, you can always check. Otherwise I promise you it won't take long.
Michel : Also what's exceptional for a French series is that it's sold abroad in 70 countries--
Daphné : Pride.
Caroline : Pride.
Michel : The success of Engrenages abroad is because it's giving people an idea of what is France today?
Audrey (ironically) : I'm absolutely pleased that it's been bought in the United States 'cause it's true that it'll allow them to measure to us in terms of TV series--
Daphné [Loud laughter] (ironically) : They're kinda lagging behind !
Audrey (ironically) : It's a thing they're trying for a few years, it hasn't given much, so it allows them to…--
Daphné (ironically) : Generosity.
Michel : A series that you're familiar with, Natacha ?
Natacha Polony : Honestly, not really, I've just seen a few episodes, but barely, so I-- That being said there's something surprising in this series, it's really-- there's an intensity, there's something that we didn't know before in French series. So yeah, thank you for going to give them lessons (ironic). And btw, it doesn't surprise me that the difference of the judiciary systems doesn't change anything because we can see American series, we got used to it, so there's no reason that they can't get used to our vision of justice.
Caroline : Thank you, Canal+, for giving us this freedom in the storytelling, it's really by working here that we can make this kind of thing.
Daphné : And you're the favorite show in police stations, you got posters and everything, so I've heard. Must feel weird.
Audrey : Yeah, I got my iPhone stolen two days ago--
Daphné : And then ?
Audrey : And then it's kind of incredible, I'm there waiting among all the people who had a complaint, and in the meantime there's the whole station coming by asking me what's happening in season 4.
Daphné : With you in the background on a picture… strange.
Michel : You pay your tickets ?
Caroline : I don't get tickets.
Audrey : I don't have a car.
Here are the quotes from several newspapers that show up from 13:25' to 13:45' :
- "The strongest French TV series" - Les Inrockuptibles.
- "The best French copshow" — Télérama.
- "The best in its genre in France" — L'Express.
- "A dark, captivating scenario" — Le Figaro.
- "Spiral is the forerunner of quality French serials" — Le Parisien.
- "12 episodes darker and more breathtaking than ever" — Le Journal du Dimanche.
As for the ratings, on Monday, an average of 915 000 viewers (15% of the subscribers) were watching episodes 4.01 & 4.02 from 8:55pm to 10:40pm. On Sunday, 1.9 million viewers were watching the Ligue 1 football game Lille/Paris, but sport has always been Canal+'s big ratings powerhouse and the episodes will be rebroadcast 6-7 times this week across Canal+'s group, plus people can catch up on the website. Engrenages was sixth of the ratings last night, but the previous five shows are on free-access channels, and those were : Farmer Wants a Wife on M6 (6.5 million) followed by the season premiere of Castle on France 2 (5.9 million for episode 4.01) and by Camping Paradis on TF1 (5.2 million). Then, there was Unbreakable on W9 (1.6 million - big ratings for that channel), Match on France 3 (1.1 million - huge flop for that channel) and Engrenages on Canal+ (0.92 million — numbers Canal+ is very happy with since it's better than the ratings for the first episodes of seasons 2 & 3 and better than any episode of season 3).
Source : Le Nouvel Observateur, which mentions that Spiral is available in the USA on Netflix since Sept 1. Check it out !
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