brilliant actors, brilliant editing

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Yes the sets and costumes are great/historically appropriate, and yes Michael Gambon is a good actor, BUT the BRITISHNESS of this 1992 series, is almost too much...very very strong English regional accents are at odds with the supposed French setting. The acting is actually a bit plodding too, despite the good actors. Perhaps this is a faulty script/direction, but I can't see how the 1992 series got so popular..perhaps it was the BRits watching other Brits and who cares about authenticity of accent or pacing of plot line/direction. Have seen Gambon in many movies, series and even he cannot completely 'save' this from being a bit underwhelming.,..and a bit boring...

This is a splendid series which I have recently obtained on DVD. Memories of when I first watched it seventeen years ago have come flooding back. But so did the irritation over one particular episode - Series 1 Ep 4. Maigret returns to his home village on All Souls Day (2nd November) a day when a priest is allowed to offer three Masses. Here the priest for a requiem Mass is dressed not in black vestments (appropriate for Masses of the dead in the 1950's) but in green vestments and not vestments for a priest but those of a deacon. When so much authenticity is captured in a production it was a pity that woeful ignorance of simple ecclesiastical matters was allowed to have such free rein. If those concerned in production are unsure about church customs then it is usually easy to find out for certain. But, all in all, a great series - delightful to watch and I give it 8 out of 10.

The Michael Gambon Maigrets are very good realisations of the Simenon novels. If you haven't read the books you should know they are less 'whodunnit' than 'whydunnit'. This is what, for my money, gives Simenon the edge over other crime writers. Uncovering the criminal is almost an aside to stories of envy, greed, fraud, petty criminality and the hatreds and resentments in the everyday lives of ordinary people. "Maigret sets a Trap" is an excellent example of this and it makes a great final episode for the first series.The series was filmed in Budapest which makes a very good 1950's Paris (although Maigret worked from 1930 to 1972 in the novels, by which time he would have been about 88) and spares us establishing shots of the Eiffel Tower every two minutes.My only criticism is that the episodes would have worked better with a slightly longer running time, maybe 80 minutes. This would have given more time for the development of the characters (we need to know their motivations for Simenon's stories to work) and the atmosphere in which Maigret has to work. In 'Maigret Goes to School', for example, everyone in the village is against him. All we get in the film is a few minutes of abuse and antagonism from a couple of characters in the local bar.Otherwise this is good, enjoyable TV detective work.

We used to watch this in French in high school! I absolutely loved the days when we'd walk in and be told we got to watch Maigret. They're kinda old, but way interesting, and we almost never knew what was going to happen. The episodes aren't predictable, which makes it all the more interesting. I hate when you know what's going to happen before it does, but I don't recall an instance where that was the case. It's totally worth checking out if you like a good mystery. And they really are great for French classes. I don't think we watched them in French with English subtitles like we did with other movies, but he's a French detective and there are a lot of French words and sites that are helpful to the students. We also used to write summaries of the stories entirely in French, so if you're a teacher, it's a great combination of comprehension and writing. If you decide you like these, or are looking for something similar, try watching Poirot. It's a series based on the stories by Agatha Christie. Same type of thing, but I'm partial to Maigret myself!