User Reviews

If subtitles work for you, the 4 seasons of this series will surely hold your attention. Some knowledge of French - I am functionally bilingual - will undoubtedly add to your enjoyment. But I don't think the lack of that should deter you.

The series is a sprawling saga, covering about 6 generations of two main families, the Desrochers and the Belziles. The former are bourgeois, not fabulously rich but certainly much more privileged than the neighboring farming family, the Belziles. And the Desrochers don't mind exploiting their social and economic advantages.

The history of this sweep of time figures prominently in the story., beginning with pre-WW1 and ending in the 21st century.(2007) There is a war veteran, likely with PTSD, who plays the role of villain admirably. In general, the male characters are more apt to display character flaws. The females are the bedrock of both families and their steadfastness is the main reason both families will endure, though much changed.

The production values are excellent, the setting is evocative (the lower St. Lawrence River - "fleuve", in French) The acting is also excellent. There was some confusion for this viewer at times, Time periods switch quickly and one is uncertain of the connection between characters in their earlier iteration, versus a different actor doing the same character later on. Most of this uncertainty will have been resolved by the end of Season 4.

On the whole, you should be well entertained and not regret the time you must spend to follow this series to its ending.

This series has to be the second best series on French Canadian television. "Le retour" being the best. Both series were written by the same writers, Anne Boyer and Michel D'Astous.

The story revolves around a century (starting in the year 1900) in the lives of two families; the rich Desrochers-Mannings who own a summer home and the poor Belziles their closest neighbors. The rich and the poor's lives are intermingled in a realistic way.

Since the story revolves around the summer home over 100 years, more than one time line is followed at the same time. We may see one character as a child and in the next scene as an adult. The "future" scenes are intermixed wonderfully well with the "past" from the very beginning of the series. We see shadows of things to come in the past and shadows of the past in the future scenes. The eras merge together in a magical, brilliant way that helps us fully understand the story since the past in intimately linked to the future.

The characters are wonderfully coloured, as usual for these writers. The acting is wonderful and the visual effects are superbly convincing. This is a very different type of show with brilliant ideas. Anne and Michel outdid themselves on this series! Most of the actors are well known and do a superb job! All around an excellent series!