Just a few minutes into watching the latest Netflix sensation Lupin — its biggest-ever French show — and I was giving some serious Gallic shrugs.
It’s hugely popular: it has been no. 1 in the US and was the first French series to break into their top 10. Elsewhere, Lupin is vying for Bridgerton for the number one streaming spot.
Inspired by Maurice Leblanc’s stories about the gentleman thief, Arsène Lupin, the show’s success has prompted fresh print runs of the books, first published in 1905. (Some had sold out on Amazon when I checked last week but have now been restocked.)
But watching the show is a strangely dislocating and downright weird experience.
Omar Sy, the César-winning French actor, plays a thief called Assane who’s obsessed with Lupin. He’s in Paris planning a heist, musing on the Mona Lisa, strolling across the Seine.
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