Baron Noir - The Complete 1st Season - DVD

Content: Philippe Rickwaert (Kad Merad), a politician on the French left, has a promising career ahead of him. But this is sacrificed by his party's presidential candidate, Francis Laugier (Niels Arestrup), for his own ends. Philippe does not accept that he should play the pawn for the supposed good of his party. And so, with the help of his closest ally Amélie Dorendeu (Anna Mouglalis), he embarks on a political vendetta. He becomes an outsider to his party, but is able to establish his political standing with the help of cleverly contrived friendships and alliances with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, and is soon dubbed the "Baron Noir" in the press. For Laugier he becomes the worst enemy for his office as president. But it is not only his former party colleague who would now like to stab him in the back. On his way to the top, Philippe finds himself in a constant battle with his political enemies, as well as his own demons, which he constantly feeds with new food, as he would really do anything for his career.

Baron Noir is another example of how the machinations of politics lend themselves perfectly to exciting and involving TV entertainment. Not quite as nasty as House of Cards and not quite as gripping as Borgen - Dangerous Ropes, Baron Noir nevertheless offers eight episodes of thrilling entertainment at a high level. How Rickwaert and Laugier instrumentalize other people to achieve their goals, even if they have to betray their own ideals, is simply extremely gripping. Here and there the whole thing is a little bit dry, but boredom never really sets in. On the one hand, this is due to the well-crafted production, on the other hand, it is also due to the excellent actors.

Here especially Kad Merad stands out. Merad, who is known in this country primarily from light comedy fare, conveys the various facets of Rickwaert's character absolutely credibly. On the one hand there is the passionate politician, on the other hand the merciless fighter with a wounded ego. He is at times charismatic and charming, at other times ice-cold and almost terrifying. Merad's playing not only makes the character of the Dark Baron extremely interesting, it also adds a tremendous intensity to the series as a whole that isn't always provided by the production itself.

The story of the first season deals with very current issues and shows how a country's problems can be abused by politicians for personal gain. Thus, the series also provides plenty of material for heated discussions. Director Ziad Doueiri and his team have delivered a very good mixture of entertainment and ambition, which lovers of exciting political series should not miss. Absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound: As one might expect from a current TV production, the DVD conversion of the eight episodes pleases with an authentic-looking colour scheme and convincing overall sharpness. The audio is in a pleasantly powerful Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, though it is primarily carried by the dialogue and the music, which is well-matched to it. Good.

Extras: The third disc features a Making of (approx. 16:23 mins), which goes into detail about the content and making of the first season. Not really much, but well worth watching for interested viewers!

Conclusion: Baron Noir is a great acted and thrillingly implemented political series, which can alone through the powerful play of Kad Merad over some small lengths over. The whole thing is not quite in the same league as comparable series such as Borgen or House of Cards, but still offers first-class TV entertainment at a high level. The DVD box of the first season presents the series in good picture and sound quality and also has a short but decent making of on board. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp