Les Revenants (the returned) had its first airing on channel 4 tonight....

Photo credit: http://www.acrossthedays.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Les-revenants-serie-canal+.jpg

Us Brits tend not to like subtitles, maybe it's because we're too lazy to read or feel that having to divert our attention to the subtitles at the bottom of the screen takes away from the overall viewing experience, whatever the case may be, I think it has been overlooked for this brilliant French thriller. 

(Yes, I'm putting this on my blog because it is French ;) )

This subtitle phobia is even common among my own family, who were unwilling to watch this very programme tonight until I convinced them otherwise. Most of the time, they refuse to watch anything French with me because they say that they don't understand it and don't like subtitles. Luckily les revenants has managed to change their minds. 

Its gritty cinematography and surreal narrative, I feel, is typically French. Even the colour scheme seems similar to that of Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain), with a green hue  being the overwhelming colour throughout.

The fact that a French programme has managed to get onto British television, and has been received really well is brilliant, and I hope that it's something that will continue to emerge in time to come. 

In terms of the narrative, I think that it's really captivating and the mystery behind it is something that the French seem to master. As the first episode, it has introduced us to an extremely complex narrative, with many unanswered questions for us viewers. 

A general synopsis of the first episode:

A group of school children were on their school bus driving along the mountains (on a school trip) when a young female pupil runs to the front of the bus and wants to be let out (presumably sensing the danger ahead), the bus proceeds to go off the edge of the mountain, with the vehicle and all of the passengers falling thousands of feet towards the ground. 

The victims have begun to reappear in their relatives homes (often their family home) and the people around them can see them (despite the fact that presumably, they are ghosts). Their reappearance has left their families in despair with nobody knowing how to deal with the situation. 

The consensus is that the victims do not know that they have died and have returned home to live their lives as they would if they were alive, with no recollection of the accident which killed them all. 

Here is a link to the channel 4 website for more information & links to watch the episode online: 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-returned