The best series of the week
Nobody could have invented these characters. France already loved her in real life, now it’s our turn
Liliane Bettencourt’s last 30 years are so strange that the richest woman in the world would be unviable as a fictional character. We believe in his life because that life existed. In The Bettencourt casea French Netflix documentary miniseries, they tell us from the late 80s until her death in 2017. From the arrival of Franois-Marie Banier in their lives until the title of richest woman in the world passed into the hands of their daughter, the worrying Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.
Banner, another character that no one could have inventedcame into Liliane’s life in 1987. Everyday, fun and pleasure (and gay), this photographer became the super millionaire’s best friend, extremely bored and trapped in an idea of discretion and privacy. Austerity measures that seemed like a waste to Banier.
With his new adventure partner Bettencourt Majority shareholder of L’Oral, started traveling and spending money. At the same time, it is also about appointing politicians of all denominations in exchange for political influence that is as diffuse as it is effective. It didn’t take long for her daughter to suspect Franois-Marie Banier (the “donations” he received from Lilianne were estimated to be close to a billion euros), while the French judiciary, society and the media were (finally) outraged . with the open secret of the envelopes containing lots of cash who called themselves chez Lilianne left and right. And then some audio recordings made in that house came to light.
The Bettencourt case connects the French billionaire’s scandals into a unified narrative with a clear common thread: What number makes you lose track of what money means? This question that could lead to this Countless argumentsis researched in The Bettencourt case in a very interesting way.
The miniseries is about footage that turns France around supported by elegant recreations with actors. These, in turn, are explained and commented on by journalists, protagonists of the story or Arielle Dombasle, a priceless French star who doesn’t miss a single one. Like the story of The Bettencourt case, it is impossible as fiction. But there you have it, I’m talking about your friend Francoise, by Franois-Marie Banier and whatever they ask of him. Born in the USA and married to Bernard-Henry Lvi, Dombasle It’s a bit like the French Ana Obregn. Also a symbol of how well France knows how to mix culture with cabaret, politics with pomp and money with everything.
In The Bettencourt caseit works as a metaphor: He knew it, but he was silent, he was shocked, but just enough, he looked away, but that side didn’t exist. Throughout the miniseries we see graphics depicting the exorbitant figures that moved between Lilianne Bettencourt and the rest of the world. They serve that purpose Let’s not lose track, even if they sometimes achieve the exact opposite. Lilianne’s fortune was estimated at 30,000 million euros. His subsidiary’s sales today exceed 93,000, an amount that almost triples L’Oréal’s annual sales. I’m getting lost. And that’s how it works, of course.
