A kind of Sea teeth for the Greta Thunberg generation! Cetaceans attacking tourist boats, shoals of fish attacking fishermen, lobsters resistant to the idea of being boiled… From Canada to Japan via Scotland, scientists from all over the world – Cécile of France for the French part – try to understand what is happening under the oceans. Abyssa miniseries in eight episodes broadcast from this Monday at 9:10 p.m. on France 2, depicts the distressing idea that the depths decide to attack humanity following global warming… A brilliant and breathtaking international co-production in eight episodes , created by Frank Doelger (Game Of Thrones), which warns of climate change in a spectacular way, under the prism of science fiction. Why shouldn’t we miss this remarkable international co-production?
“Climate change” as the main character
After spending nine years on the series Game Of Thrones, the exclusive producer and showrunner of Abysses Frank Doelger is looking for something “more contemporary”, he says during a round table at Series Mania where the miniseries was presented out of competition. “I can’t think of a more topical, more pressing, more urgent subject than climate change and its consequences,” he continues.
Despite its strong political subtext, Abyss is a real entertainment, which never falls into didacticism. “There are a lot of documentaries and reports on climate change. We adopted a different approach, the series ends up being poetic with a mystical and spiritual approach, the emotions allow us to add an additional dimension”, underlines the producer.
The adaptation of a premonitory German novel
Abyss is the adaptation of the premonitory bestseller The Swarm by Frank Schätzing published in 2004. “I had a number of reservations and doubts, because what this novel described was a disaster film, the end was very dark, almost hopeless”, explains Frank Doelger. He realizes how difficult it would be to distill the 900 pages of investigation into natural phenomena that form the basis of the story into a captivating, character-driven series.
The miniseries thus takes a lot of freedom with the original novel. “All the characters in the novel are middle-aged white men. The book dates from 2004, at the time, when we looked at students and professors in the environment, it was true, ”explains the showrunner. More and more young people and women are engaging in scientific studies of the environment. “So we decided to change the characters and in particular to make them younger. The character of Cécile de France was in the novel a white man of a certain age”, he specifies.
Another key change, to lighten the scientific explanations: “We called on two scientific consultants on the set. We asked them what was the minimum required in terms of scientific explanations to understand, because in the novel, there are hundreds of pages of scientific explanations and we completely lose sight of the plot, ”underlines the showrunner.
A miniseries inspired by “Jaws”
Result ? “We made something else out of it, a monster movie, where something threatens humanity. This monster only defends its environment and the fauna of the ocean. Ultimately, the monster is us. When we become aware of it, it allows us to act. If we change our behavior, there is the possibility of hope. This is what we will see at the end of the series with this group of scientists who understood the link that united us to nature, ”analyzes the showrunner.
To make the plot of this story where the oceans threaten humanity captivating and spectacular, the reference was “obviously” Steven Spielberg’s cult film released in 1975. Jaws, there’s a build-up of mystery and you don’t really get to see the shark until the end. We followed this recipe, this great mystery that reigns in our series will not be revealed until episode 8. Jaws is the reference both for specific scenes, such as the attacks, but also the model for the narrative construction of the series”, develops Frank Doelger.
“Environmentally friendly” production
“We first wanted a production that was respectful of the environment, which was a green production”, announces the executive producer. While the plot of Abyss takes place in Peru, Canada, the Shetland Islands, France, Rome, South Africa, Norway and the Arctic, filming took place mainly in Italy and in studios in Belgium. “Thanks to the special effects, we were able to concentrate the filming in Italy,” he says with satisfaction. There were also some aerial shots by drone in Scotland, “we also sent a second team to Canada and Scandinavia”, specifies the showrunner. And to add: “No animals were harmed during filming, even in the scene of lobsters, which is a mixture of special effects and model, same thing for the killer whale on the beach. »
A spectacular show that mixes “fear and beauty”
On the aesthetic level, this anticipatory thriller shows particularly spectacular scenes, the result of “months of preparation upstream and a lot of special effects”, sums up the director. “We wanted to deal with the natural and the supernatural with the same realism in a world that is recognizable and that allows us to approach the threat but also the beauty on the same level,” says the showrunner. “Throughout the series, fear and beauty are intertwined. There are scenes where you are both terrified by what you see and overwhelmed by the beauty and magnificence of nature,” adds Barbara Eder, who directed a few episodes ofAbyss. Abyss thus succeeds in combining realism and fantasy, suspense and ecology without ever being a lesson giver.