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From Amazon.co.uk
If you’re looking for an unpredictable small screen thriller to sink your teeth into, then you sometimes have to look beyond the television output of the UK and the US. To France, in this case, as three series of the highly acclaimed TV show Spiral have been brought together in this single box set. And, along with The Killing, it’s an international television treat that’s aching to be discovered.
The show goes under the name of Engrenages in its native France, and it’s a police drama series starring Caroline Proust and Gregory Fitoussi. Known as Spiral when it was broadcast in the UK, what’s drawn people to the show has been how intelligently it treats its viewers. You’re not spoon fed everything here, as instead, the writers offer you enough, but aren’t afraid to let you do some of the work. The conventional Hollywood approach to such subject matter is absolutely nowhere to be seen.
It’s gripping drama, made all the better by it being set in another country, and thus dealing with a different way of accomplishing things. For an English viewer, that certainly helps make Spiral interesting. But it’s the sheer quality of the three series you get here, and the willingness to stray from convention, that make this boxset worth the money. It’s gritty, unpredictable drama, and with further series ordered in France, it’s great to hear that there’s more of it to come. --Jon Foster
Product Description
The Spiral Series 1-3 Box Set contains all episodes from all three series of this critically acclaimed drama.
Series One
A badly beaten body of a young Romanian woman is discovered on a Parisian rubbish dump. Her identity and past life are gradually uncovered as the various parts of the French Justice System investigate her death. However, it becomes apparent that her story is tied to a network of corruption touching the very people charged with uncovering the truth about her.
Series Two
A burned corpse is found in the boot of a car in a seemingly isolated case of urban violence. However, the case grows in complexity and danger as each new piece of evidence unearths a duplicitous world of international trafficking, informers, double lives and arms dealing. An audacious plan to strike at the heart of the crime network means that the slightest slip will result in certain death.
Series Three
When the mutilated body of a young woman is found on a disused railway track in the North of Paris, Police Captain Laure Berthaud seizes the opportunity to restore a tarnished reputation leads her squad on the hunt for what she believes to be a deranged serial killer. However, with her personal life in tatters and a potential rift emerging from within her own ranks, Berthaud's world is on the verge of disintegration.
Series One
A badly beaten body of a young Romanian woman is discovered on a Parisian rubbish dump. Her identity and past life are gradually uncovered as the various parts of the French Justice System investigate her death. However, it becomes apparent that her story is tied to a network of corruption touching the very people charged with uncovering the truth about her.
Series Two
A burned corpse is found in the boot of a car in a seemingly isolated case of urban violence. However, the case grows in complexity and danger as each new piece of evidence unearths a duplicitous world of international trafficking, informers, double lives and arms dealing. An audacious plan to strike at the heart of the crime network means that the slightest slip will result in certain death.
Series Three
When the mutilated body of a young woman is found on a disused railway track in the North of Paris, Police Captain Laure Berthaud seizes the opportunity to restore a tarnished reputation leads her squad on the hunt for what she believes to be a deranged serial killer. However, with her personal life in tatters and a potential rift emerging from within her own ranks, Berthaud's world is on the verge of disintegration.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By cutbillm
Format:DVD
Frankly, one of the best programmes I have ever seen. It is inevitably being compared with The Killing, but I for one would not want to choose between them.
I would endorse all the other plaudits and add just two comments. Firstly, it is pretty damn gruesome, not so much in showing the violence, but with the aftermath, particularly when the pathologists get involved, so be warned. Secondly, with series such as these they often seem to tire and become formulaic. Not a bit of it in this case - series 3 was for me the best of the lot, and the first two were great!
I would endorse all the other plaudits and add just two comments. Firstly, it is pretty damn gruesome, not so much in showing the violence, but with the aftermath, particularly when the pathologists get involved, so be warned. Secondly, with series such as these they often seem to tire and become formulaic. Not a bit of it in this case - series 3 was for me the best of the lot, and the first two were great!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By 3cultures
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Just when it seemed that Sky Atlantic was getting all the best serial dramas, the BBC have been putting out great Swedish /Danish productions along with Channel 4. Like most people The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen were completely addictive and whilst waiting for series two, three or even a fourth series something had to be found to ease the pain of withdrawal symptoms.
I fortunately found the excellent French series Spiral which I had missed all three series on BBC. I had come across it once when channel swapping and it wasn't easy to get in to part way through, because of running multi story lines in each episode, I dismissed it. Subsequently I came across the universal complementary reviews crediting the quality of this riveting series and purchased the three together. There is however a snag to this for people lacking strong will power, self control or addiction because instead of having a class leading serial,to look forward to on television for the next three or four weeks, watching one or two episodes week. Spiral is so entertainingly absorbing it is too easy to see two or three episodes per night.
Everyone may have a preference , but Spiral is up there with the Swedish / Danish productions. It is my opinion that these particular foreign series are so superior to any US or home grown cop dramas that these I no longer wish to see.
There are two significant differences between the Scandanavian and French productions, one is that the French language is so much faster than Swedish and Danish and therefore it is more difficult to keep up with the subtitles in Spiral.
The other noticable distinction is that French women are so much more attractive, feminine and more stylishly dressed than Scandanavian women.... Read more ›
I fortunately found the excellent French series Spiral which I had missed all three series on BBC. I had come across it once when channel swapping and it wasn't easy to get in to part way through, because of running multi story lines in each episode, I dismissed it. Subsequently I came across the universal complementary reviews crediting the quality of this riveting series and purchased the three together. There is however a snag to this for people lacking strong will power, self control or addiction because instead of having a class leading serial,to look forward to on television for the next three or four weeks, watching one or two episodes week. Spiral is so entertainingly absorbing it is too easy to see two or three episodes per night.
Everyone may have a preference , but Spiral is up there with the Swedish / Danish productions. It is my opinion that these particular foreign series are so superior to any US or home grown cop dramas that these I no longer wish to see.
There are two significant differences between the Scandanavian and French productions, one is that the French language is so much faster than Swedish and Danish and therefore it is more difficult to keep up with the subtitles in Spiral.
The other noticable distinction is that French women are so much more attractive, feminine and more stylishly dressed than Scandanavian women.... Read more ›
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By Philoctetes
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
I was thinking, maybe it is easier to pronounce the name Sara Lund, or did the gaggle of journos and mouthpieces begin salivating at the sight of her Scandinavian jumper? Was it the appearance of a woman detective embodying (and exaggerating) many of the traits attached to classic male cops and gumshoes? Whatever the reason or bag of associations, Scandi-drama has surely won more attention, especially amongst the gender-conscious sisterhood, eager for a new poster-girl.
I'm here to tell them that they missed a trick.
Berthaud. Captain Laure Berthaud. She is the real deal, the true hero(ine) of crime drama and female empowerment, the genuine inspiration for all viewers, men and women.
If feminism is really about equality with men then that presupposes a world in which men and women live together and interact with each other. So, that counts Lund out right away. SPIRAL is a TV show about crime and corruption in French society, one that examines politics, the judiciary, trade and industry, the police, as well as outright criminality, people trafficking, vice, drugs, etc. Caught up in the highly complex web and vortices of this world are many unforgettable characters, actors with extraordinary faces, but I want to talk about Berthaud.
The style of policing in Spiral is rough-house, round the clock interrogation and investigation, a tight-knit team of cops led (first among equals) by a woman who goes toe to toe, eyeballing and bellowing and b****slapping the perps with all the conviction and intensity of her male counterparts. She leads them, but from the front, and without sacrificing anything of her femininity. She is sexy but not girly or predictable in her sexuality.... Read more ›
I'm here to tell them that they missed a trick.
Berthaud. Captain Laure Berthaud. She is the real deal, the true hero(ine) of crime drama and female empowerment, the genuine inspiration for all viewers, men and women.
If feminism is really about equality with men then that presupposes a world in which men and women live together and interact with each other. So, that counts Lund out right away. SPIRAL is a TV show about crime and corruption in French society, one that examines politics, the judiciary, trade and industry, the police, as well as outright criminality, people trafficking, vice, drugs, etc. Caught up in the highly complex web and vortices of this world are many unforgettable characters, actors with extraordinary faces, but I want to talk about Berthaud.
The style of policing in Spiral is rough-house, round the clock interrogation and investigation, a tight-knit team of cops led (first among equals) by a woman who goes toe to toe, eyeballing and bellowing and b****slapping the perps with all the conviction and intensity of her male counterparts. She leads them, but from the front, and without sacrificing anything of her femininity. She is sexy but not girly or predictable in her sexuality.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have now acquired the series 1 - 4 and love all of the stories, the intricacies of plot, the incredible (and highly credible) acting of a wonderful cast - Judge Roban, Captain Laure Berthaud, Pierre Clement et al. I cannot praise this series enough, you will need a strong stomach to watch some scenes, but they are not gratuitous, never there to shock, or used as a distraction from poor story telling. It is such a refreshing change from the air-brushed gloss of some other crime series - these people are real, very human and I cannot wait for a Series 5. I hope someone can tell me if it is in the pipeline ...?
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By 'Arry Viewer
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had no preconceived notions about this series when I purchased the box-set, other than recommendations of other Amazon purchasers (though it turned out I had seen part of one episode on TV on a visit to France, when it did not make much sense out of context). I was soon hooked, watching two or three episodes back to back until I had finished all three series. I've ordered series 4, and can't wait ...
What's the attraction? On one level, it's the usual sort of story: cops find dead body, and eventually discover who was responsible. But the sort of material which would take a single episode of an American police procedural like CSI is here spread over the whole series. The real interest is in the characterisation, of both the good guys and the bad guys. Most of the villains are very nasty indeed, but they are never cardboard cut-outs, while the police and other agents of the legal system who are just as important in the stories are all flawed human beings. Even someone like Juge Roban, who really does believe in the pursuit of truth and justice, ruins his own life, and sometimes that of others, because he is unwilling to make any allowances for human weakness. A lot of the time we are dealing with situations where we have to question to what extent the end justifies the means, and wondering what we might do faced with the same circumstances. And then there is the infighting between different parts of the legal system who are all meant to be on the same side, and the portrayal of low- and high-level corruption and skulduggery ...
Most of the action takes place in Paris and its immediate surroundings, but you won't see that much of the tourist landmarks.... Read more ›
What's the attraction? On one level, it's the usual sort of story: cops find dead body, and eventually discover who was responsible. But the sort of material which would take a single episode of an American police procedural like CSI is here spread over the whole series. The real interest is in the characterisation, of both the good guys and the bad guys. Most of the villains are very nasty indeed, but they are never cardboard cut-outs, while the police and other agents of the legal system who are just as important in the stories are all flawed human beings. Even someone like Juge Roban, who really does believe in the pursuit of truth and justice, ruins his own life, and sometimes that of others, because he is unwilling to make any allowances for human weakness. A lot of the time we are dealing with situations where we have to question to what extent the end justifies the means, and wondering what we might do faced with the same circumstances. And then there is the infighting between different parts of the legal system who are all meant to be on the same side, and the portrayal of low- and high-level corruption and skulduggery ...
Most of the action takes place in Paris and its immediate surroundings, but you won't see that much of the tourist landmarks.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good-thank you
This was for a present and was just as asked for.
It arriveed on time and in good ondition
Very entertaining.
Would recommend to all our friends
It arriveed on time and in good ondition
Very entertaining.
Would recommend to all our friends
Published 2 days ago by Sara Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent series
Great production and storylines. Such a joy to see a French series after all the Skando ones. The first series was rather gruesome but very well done. Read more
Published 2 days ago by owlet
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heavy
Great story line. Superb character development. Great acting. I am only half way through season two, and have yet to determine whether or not the sex between the Captain and the... Read more
Published 10 days ago by Jim Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars
The way a cop show should be
Great characters and acting. Great to see a series which is not PC and deals with the real world in an earthy and gritty way. Read more
Published 13 days ago by JKD
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good and full of twists and turns
This box set is a must have, why? Well it grabs you in to a world of people battling against an out of date and corrupt legal system and the only way they can do it is by noble... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Ms. S. Barclay
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great TV
Hot off the back of Borgen when we were wondering how we would pass the time we discovered Spiral a French detective series set in Paris. Read more
Published 14 days ago by PanneJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
great french detective series!
decided to buy this dvd box set after seeing a couple of episodes on tv, good value for money thoroughly enjoyed by us.
Published 16 days ago by kathleen mckenzie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting
Brilliantly acted. Worth watching time and time again. This super quality of thriller doesn't happen every day of the week
Published 18 days ago by Prof T Bareham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must see
One of the best series on tv, I bought it for my daughter who missed it all, now she can watch it when she has time.
Published 18 days ago by Kathleen Tapper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Brilliant
I just wish there was more and more of this I thought it was brilliant, couldn't stop watching one after the other, too impatient to wait a week to watch on TV. Read more
Published 18 days ago by jenny verard
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