The Reunion Director, Producer, Star Staying True to the Novel

The action in upcoming mystery thriller The Reunion, starring Harrows’ Ioan Gruffudd, revolves around three characters in two time zones separated by 25 years, but the characters’ emotions and personalities are consistent, the British director explained of the series, Bill Eagles at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Sunday.

The English language show produced by Sydney Gallonde at Make It Happen Studio and co-produced by MGM Intl. TV Productions and broadcaster France Televisions is based on Guillaume Musso’s bestseller La Jeune fille et la nuit.

The story begins in the present, at a reunion at an international school in southern France, where three former friends reunite. They’ve grown apart and lost touch, but they still share a tragic secret tied to the disappearance of a fellow student 25 years ago.

Although Eagles acknowledged that having the same characters in two time zones presented challenges, the key to overcoming them lay in the novel. “Guillaume Musso portrayed his characters so well at the age of 18 and understood their development over a period of 25 years that the lines the characters delivered in our present were entirely consistent with the character development from which we saw them had young characters.”

He added, “Basically, when we believe in the young cast, we believe in the consequences of their actions, homicidal acts, acts of betrayal, obsessive love, denial, and then we inform these older characters with the same principles and watch.” look at how those feelings and those emotions have sworn for over 25 years. Then when we bring these characters together, we find a total belief in and synthesis between young and old.”

In a video presentation shown at the festival, Musso explained that his time teaching at an international school in southern France was “the catalyst” for writing the novel. The Reunion is the first TV series adaptation of one of his 19 novels. He said he made it a condition of the adaptation that it be shot in the region where he grew up. He explained that previous inquiries have often come for “the wrong reasons” – because his novels are bestsellers and it’s “seldom really been for artistic reasons”.

On the other hand, Gallonde – whom he has known for more than 10 years – “has always come up with projects that are primarily due to the fact that he read my books, because he liked my novels”, said Musso, “and because he had an artistic vision behind it and it’s only natural that I said ‘yes’ to this project.”

Gallonde explained how he collaborated with the writer on the show. “Guillaume Musso is involved in every single second of this project… but through me, because the thing is, I made him a promise: I told him I’ll protect your DNA and I’ll be 100% involved, just to give you something.” to deliver will be proud.”

Eagles said that a key to the novels’ success is making the stories compelling. “In Guillaume’s work, you feel all the twists and turns, and you feel that certain facts or elements of the story were left out because they stemmed from the character’s problems; it didn’t come from the need for the conspiracy,” he said.

Gruffudd said he feels a special responsibility to Musso for getting his character Thomas right since Thomas is a writer. “It’s almost as if Guillaume represents himself in Thomas,” he said. “There are definitely aspects of Guillaume that Thomas is in the book. So if you’re representing the novelist and you’re playing a novelist, you should try to stick to the little subtleties that he wrote in his novels.”

Gruffudd also paid tribute to British writer Marston Bloom, who adapted Musso’s novel alongside Gallonde. Gallonde added that he and Musso met before Bloom began his adaptation “to ensure that the French portion will have a presence in the show and that the show will suit global audiences” and to understand the universal nature of the to establish history.

Eagles acknowledged that while there might be something very traditional about a crime thriller, “the complexity of psychology does [Musso] lets his characters move into the novel, makes it a very contemporary play.”

He elaborated on this point: “We have the psychology of denial, obsessive love, inappropriate obsessive love, betrayal. And then of people trying to atone for their crime. So, 25 years later, Fanny has become a doctor and Max has become a politician trying to do good. It’s interesting the character of Thomas, he became a writer. He’s still exploring storytelling and fantasy, and in some ways his character is the most in denial.

“It’s a really fascinating way of delineating the three different characters. And because Thomas is so disowned — because he hasn’t really made up his mind to make amends and find some kind of redeeming journey — that’s one of the reasons he messes everything up, stirs up the pond with all the dirt and grime and all that creates chaos that follows.”

Gallonde underscored the importance of the international dimension of the novel and series, which not only has a British director and writer, but has also brought together actors from several countries, including Gruffudd from Wales, Ivanna Sakhno from Ukraine, Salóme Gunnarsdóttir from Iceland and Vahina Giocante from France and Gregory Fitoussi.

Gallonde said: “Six years ago my English was non-existent. Six years ago I could never have imagined working with all these people. Six years ago I could never have imagined having MGM involved in a French production based on a French IP. So the international part of the novel was essential for me.”