Xanadu Season 1 - DVD

Content: Once the Valadine family with their company Xanadu was the market leader in the production of porn films. But the business has changed, the golden era of the erotic film is over, not least thanks to the Internet. Family head Alex Valadine (Jean-Baptiste Malatre) stubbornly clings to his entrenched views and steadfastly refuses to embrace new genres. He refuses to see that he is almost bringing his company to the brink of ruin as a result. His hopes are pinned on his son Lapo (Swann Arland), who sees himself more as an artist than a porn director. Daughter Sarah (Nathalie Blanc), who comes back to France from Canada especially to help Xanadu get back on its feet, but meets with constant resistance from her father. He'd rather turn the business over to his second son Laurent (Julien Boisselier). But when he is shot during a rampage and falls into a coma, Alex has no choice but to accept help from Sarah.

With various actions, such as getting into the business of 3D porn, Xanadu is to be brought back to the top. But the family threatens to fall apart more and more in the process, especially as the mystery surrounding the mysterious death of Elise Jess (Gaia Amaral), the label's one-time star and Alex's first wife, hangs over the Valadine family like a dark shadow.

Xanadu could have easily degenerated from its source story into a raunchy soap. But instead, this series is top-notch drama with great actors, engaging dramaturgy, characters that seem authentic, and a compelling story. The handling of the subject of pornography is rather matter-of-fact and sober, and even in scenes where things are quite frank, the sex is staged in a completely uninhibited manner and, above all, not really voyeuristic. Because the series doesn't need the naked facts to hold the viewers' attention. The story and the interesting characters are definitely enough for that.

Stylistically, the series is also on a high level. The soft imagery, done in warm tones, contrasts very well with the coldness and emptiness of the characters. While there are definitely moments of emotional warmth, on the whole the lives of the individual characters are rather bleak and filled with a longing for happiness. This is well realized by the actors, who are very well cast, right down to the small supporting roles. Without a doubt, son Lapo and daughter Sarah are the most interesting characters of the series. But also supporting characters like Lou (Mathilde Bisson), who wants to build Sarah up to the new star of Xanadu and develops a very special relationship with her, or Varvara (Nora Arnezeder), Alex's second, heavily pregnant wife, who has to suffer from the fact that her husband can't let go of the past, provide some very intense moments.

Admittedly, those who are only used to standard US series fare (though there are some great stand-ins here, of course) might find Xanadu a little difficult to get into at first. But it is more than worthwhile to get involved in the story about the Valadine family. Because in the end, this French drama series produced by arte offers entertainment on a very high level. The finale of the first episode alone leaves you with enormous goosebumps, and a scene in which Sarah's daughter Marine (Solene Rigot) has a very traumatic experience with a boy she fancies almost brings tears to your eyes, so uncomfortable and at the same time upsetting is this moment staged. If you missed the series when it was first broadcast on arte (where it was hidden in the night program, which is unfortunately not uncommon for quality television) and would like to be entertained by sophisticated series fare, you can't miss Xanadu. Absolutely worth watching!

Picture + Sound: The camera deliberately plays with blur and washed out images in some scenes, which admittedly should not be considered a negative given the picture quality. The old footage of Elise is also deliberately on par with old video footage in terms of quality. Otherwise, however, the technical realization of the series is overall on a good TV level. The picture is clean, the coloration very authentic and the overall sharpness also offers little reason to complain. The sound mixed in stereo, on the other hand, is rather unspectacular and is primarily determined by the dialogues and the restrained soundtrack. Good.

Extras: Unfortunately, there are only a few program tips from the provider on the two DVDs.

Conclusion: Xanadu is an excellent drama series, with great scripts, engaging production and first-rate actors, the eight episodes captivate from the first moment to the revelatory finale. Although the double DVD contains no extras to speak of, the audiovisually well-executed series can definitely be warmly recommended to lovers of sophisticated drama fare. Absolutely worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp