At the end of 2019, the very famous affair of little Grégory was back in the news with a documentary mini-series posted on Netflix. In 2021, TF1 is tackling it in turn with the first season of “Une Affaire Française”, an original creation launched on September 20.
A French affair : what’s this ?
France has, in its history, known major French legal cases. Those who have this ability to question, to mobilize the media, to capsize public opinion. There was recently the Daval case, which falls into this category. More in the past, we can move on to the Ouvreau affair, the Guy Georges affair or, of course, the little Grégory affair. Files that we have been able to follow through the news and newspapers, which are experienced as series, with twists and revelations.
Crowds are passionate about news items, as can be seen with the many documentaries available on Netflix. The public has an attraction for these complex cases and French viewers will be served with A French affair. The concept is to dwell on a case each season. For the launch, it is that of little Grégory that was chosen. At the casting, some beautiful names have been recruited : Blandine Bellavoir and Guillaume Gouix will play the Villemin spouses, the always excellent Guillaume de Tonquédec will be Colonel Étienne Sesmat, and we can also see Gérard Jugnot, Michaël Youn, Laurence Arné, Gilbert Melki and Laurent Stocker in action.
An ultra-publicized affair
To briefly re-situate the facts, they took place in 1984. In the middle of October, Christine Villemin alerted the police about the disappearance of her son, Grégory. That same evening, the body of the four-year-old was found unconscious in the Vologne region. A letter from a crow will then claim the murder and various suspects will be named as and when. Unfortunately, the culprit has never been found and the case remains unsolved. A French affair will sweep away these facts for several episodes.
We are certainly not going to learn much new as the elements have been rehashed since the 80s. Anyway, the public should be there. Jean-Marie and Christine Villemin, Grégory’s parents, will also be attentive to the broadcast, with an eye that may be very different. We learn at Marianne thatthey were not consulted for this project and do not particularly appreciate TF1’s approach. Legal action could even take place afterwards …
