[Sundae]

The Returned.
Although I prefer the French titles Les Revenants.

Gorgeous to watch, cinematic in the location, the quality of the lighting (especially the natural lighting) and the attention to detail.
And I can watch it when I can't sleep because it's subtitled, so I don't even have to worry about waking up the 'rents (it's all about ME, even a TV review.)

It's been suggested that it's about zombies, or at least the undead, but it's much more subtle than that. The people we see returning in episode one seem to look and behave exactly as they did before they died. No spoilers.

You can lose a little on foreign imports, even from countries that speak the same language. It's in the visual shorthand - this family is rich, this girl is an underage drinker, this man has a knackered car, this woman has a common accent. But in general I think more is gained from a totally different style of cinema or programme-making. This series is extremely spare. It's not over-explained, there are enormous gaps in the story-telling and understanding. Which I have no doubt will be drip fed later, unless it's been decided it will leave questions unanswered.

I'm not a Francophile, although I do admire the French. It's just good to hear Fernch spoken on TV (and realise how hopelessly I have lost my ability to speak it) and in such an elegant, emotional and yet quite brutal series.

Eight episodes. Seven to go.

And then Hannibal. For similar yet different reasons.
Like Les Revs, I need to watch episodes more than once. Much is left unsaid, and if it depends on being able to tell the difference between characters I'm at a slight disadvantage. Put people in with the same gender and same coloured hair and I'm unlikely to pick up on plot points because I'm trying to work out who they are.

Lecter's food leaves me drooling, although he does use his fork as a shovel, which I find jarring. This may be my ignorance of dining etiquette across the whole of Europe though, as Lecter is not English (or even Welsh.)

Diz's early morning wake-up calls have me dreaming slightly more coherently than usual. When I watch Hannibal I extend the plot, albeit setting it in my house, or school or anywhere else I used to work. Figs seem to feature quite often, although I think this is because I have also been considering whether the price will drop soon (I like figs and could do with some more fruit in my diet.)

I dreamed in French last night after watching Les Revs. I had to take another peek at it this morning to check that it was set in an Alpine village, not in the Auvergne, and no scenes were set in a high school.