Available from September 13 on Netflix, the mini-series Tapie continues to be talked about even before its release! Made of 7 episodesit traces the life and meteoric rise of a “ordinary man with extraordinary ambition“, played by the charismatic actor from the Comédie-Française Laurent Lafitte.
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Meeting with his first wife Michèle (Ophelia Kolb) or with the love of his life Dominique (Josephine Japy), slippages and accusations of corruption, complicated relationship with his father, debate with Jean Marie Le Pencareer in song… the story of the former president of Olympique de Marseille will no longer have any secrets for you!
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Tapie, a “fictional biopic”…
First of all, you should know that the series is a “fictional biopic“. It traces the complex journey of the businessman over 31 years, from his participation in a tele-hook in 1966 until his incarceration at La Santé prison after the OM.VA affair in 1997.
Indeed, as the co-director declares Tristan Seguela who is close to the Tapie family thanks to his advertising father Jacques Seguela : “It’s all true…50%. We drew a lot of inspiration from facts that we learned about while reading about him. There are thousands of archives that can be consulted, notably at the INA. We did very surprising discoveriesbecause Tapie did a lot to ‘be’ in television after trying to sell as much as possible at the start of his career“.
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The aim of this series formerly entitled wonder man ? Painting a portrait of alegend“careerist, or not a bandit,”who, from his adolescence, had decided to make his name a brand” as co-writer Olivier Demangel declares. Indeed, “We did not want to make a portrait for the prosecution or the defense. We were rather trying to understand the motivations of his life without making a caricature of it.” he adds.
“Remember this name well because there will be a before and an after.”
…with a phenomenal cast!
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In addition to Laurent Lafitte, Ophélia Kolb and Joséphine Japy, you will also have the opportunity to find Fabrice Luchini, Camille Chamoux, Antoine Reinartz, Sébastien Chassagne, Hakim Jemili, Patrick D’Assumcao or Samuel Labarthe. For the moment, we do not know their roles in this mini-series. Surprise on viewing!
A series criticized by Bernard Tapie and those close to him
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Tour without consent by Bernard Tapie this series was poorly received by loved ones of the former minister who died in 2021 at the age of 78 following cancer. Before his death, he had actually criticized the project of the two directors: “I was against. […] Doing it without asking for my agreement in principle is not very good. Whether there are documentaries is something else, but borrowing my name is a bit heavy” he lamented in an interview with Var-Matin.
Those close to Bernard Tapie, who have not seen the series, agree: “I don’t fear this series, I deplore it. The producers say it’s fiction. But a fiction called Bernard Tapie… I find it incredible, I don’t condone it. And I remind you that we were absolutely not consulted” declared his widow Dominique in an interview given to Monaco Morning.
His daughter Sophie also shared a scathing message on social networks, strongly criticizing this decision taken without their knowledge: “Knowing that he had verbalized before his death that he was against this series… Which shows that disrespect has no limits. I am even more shocked that the series is the initiative of Tristan Séguéla, a family who has been friends with the Tapies for 40 years.”
LR