TV Review: Lupin: Dans l’Ombre d’Arsene Part 1
Twenty-five years ago, Babakar Diop (Fargass Assande), Senegalese immigrant and chauffeur to the wealthy Pellegrini family, was convicted of stealing the fabulous “Queen’s Necklace”, a crime he almost certainly did not commit. In prison, he allegedly hanged himself. Now the jewel has reappeared, once more in the hands of the Pellegrinis. Babakar’s son Assane Diop (Omar Sy) plans to take the necklace as revenge for his father, and discover the truth, inspired by his father’s last gift, the stories of gentleman burglar Arsene Lupin.
The character created by Maurice LeBlanc in 1905 is one of France’s treasures, enormously popular. Sadly, I’ve never gotten around to reading any of the original books, and am mostly familiar with the Japanese spin-off Lupin the Third. But Lupin’s iconic top hat and cape ensemble, his calling card, and his ability to pull off seemingly impossible thefts have inspired many a fictional master thief.
And in this case, the inspiration is direct. Young Assane is fascinated by the fictional tales of Lupin, and studies them to learn the thief’s tricks. Although he’s initially shipped off to an orphanage, Assane is soon given a scholarship to an excellent private school where he broadens his education and develops into a gentlemanly fellow. He meets future accomplice Gabriel Dumont (Vincent Garanger) and the love of his life Claire (Ludivine Sagnier) at the school as well.
In the present day, Assane and Claire are separated due to his dangerous career, and she has full custody of their son Raoul (Etan Simon). Assane’s attempts to stay in some contact with his family is an important subplot.
In the main story, Assane comes up with a brilliant caper to steal the Queen’s Necklace, and learns that the truth may be even stranger than he assumed. He investigates leads which bring him ever closer to his primary target, the even more wealthy than before and thoroughly corrupt Hubert Pellegrini (Herve Pierre). But as Assane gets closer, Pellegrini realizes he’s under attack, and begins to strike back, which leads to the cliffhanger ending of Part 1.
Meanwhile, the police are baffled. It doesn’t help that the witnesses who could give them the best information are withholding it for their own reasons. One police detective, Youssef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab), has enough imagination to realize that the capers they’re seeing are taking inspiration from the Lupin stories, right down to the aliases that Assane is using. Naturally, the other cops laugh at his wild theory.
I haven’t seen much French live action television, but this is well-produced and smartly written, with some excellent acting. One aspect I found intriguing is the treatment of racism. Assane is well aware that his dark skin can cause prejudice against him, but he’s also aware that many “white” French people have more of a horror of looking racist than of actually being racist, and is able to manipulate that.
Be aware that there’s a lot you have to take on faith about the events, and particularly how seemingly unlikely it is that Assane would get all the breaks he does. He’s supposedly a master of disguise, but most of his disguises are paper-thin. If a guard was out of place, or someone noticed his pickpocketing, Assane would be in much more trouble. (And he does in fact make a major obvious mistake in Episode 4 that he should not have if he had common sense.)
Content note: apparent suicide by hanging, some racism, sexual harassment and bullying by teens.
Overall: Promising, but we’ll have to see if it can stick the landing.
