TF1 continues to broadcast each week the episodes of the series “Rebecca” carried by Anne Marivin. This new crime thriller is actually an adaptation of the British series “Marcella”. The French version illustrating the life of a policewoman unlike any other, is it faithful to the original fiction?
Rebecca : a dark fiction
The adaptation of the British series Marcella, titled Rebecca in France has been broadcast on TF1 for a few weeks. We follow a cop closely, investigator at the criminal brigade, played by Anne Marivin, who did not have an easy life path. Indeed, she was plunged for a long time in a terrible depression which forced her to give up her job and to go on sick leave. For 6 years, a lot has happened in her family circle, but she ends up all the same resume professional activity, because we come to ask for it.
Thus, Rebecca is questioned on a detail concerning the last investigation which she carried out. And unfortunately, it is when she returns to service thatshe is left by her husband performed by Benjamin Biolay. She will therefore throw herself body and soul into this affair, convinced that the serial killer she is looking for is the same one who had escaped her years earlier.
Different interpretations
In the English version, the leading role is played by actress Anna Friel. She plays a pretty tortured woman who has problems with alcohol. However, when it comes to her job, she is very determined and can be unfriendly or even immoral. The French remake offers a slightly softer version of this bruised woman. Obviously, the play of the two actresses is different and they each have a very personal way of interpreting this complex role.
The length of Rebecca’s sick leave varies according to the version: 11 years for the original model, for only 6 years in the French version. But the latter hardly deviates from the base scenario. Indeed, the two women are both affected by the same pathology, dissociative amnesia following a violent trauma they have suffered.
A subtle recipe
Series Rebecca does not take place in the same country, new codes have been introduced. There is also several small visible differences : the victims are female on the French side, we will also note that the policewoman does not form a mixed couple with her husband, contrary to what we can see in the series Marcella. The writers of the French version had to set up a subtle recipe in order to deepen certain parts of the scenario, such as the intimate life of the couple. Anne Marivin explained herself during an interview with Allocine:
There were things we wanted to explore more, including the intimate life of the couple. But also the maternal and paternal relationship, while in Marcella’s version, the series is more focused on the thriller and the investigation.
A shortcut is made in the French remake. Sure enough, viewers only find out towards the end the origin of Rebecca’s trauma and a detail has been changed. In Marcella, the revelation sequence takes place during the last episode of season 2. Small noticeable changes that do not affect the dark and complex scenario of this thriller.
