‘I wanted to express my vision of Paris’: Why was Netflix’s Furies filmed in a natural setting?

For Furies, Netflix’s production teams set up their cameras at iconic locations in Paris. The platform’s new action series, masterfully directed by Marina Foys and Lina El Arabi, has effectively abandoned the studios to do most of its filming in natural settings.

Thus, the foyer of the Garnier Palace served as the headquarters of the Paris Mafia, nicknamed Olympus, a place accessible through a secret passage that, in the series, is the Jardin des Plantes greenhouse. The Crédit Lyonnais building, Boulevard desItaliens, was the background of the brothel. So many iconic places that served as Furia’s backdrop.

And while filming was a real challenge, the director of the first four episodes, Cédric Nicholas-Troian, told us during an interview that adding depth to the series was a necessity.

“It’s hard but worth it“

Although he had a long career as a special effects supervisor, Cédric Nicolas-Troian attached great importance to shooting on real locations. “It’s hard, but it’s worth it“, he explained to AlloCiné during the interview.

“It is difficult because we have to turn very quickly and move very quickly. It’s a bit like a puzzle to solve.” a challenge that the director of the first four episodes of Furies took on with great enthusiasm to bring the series to life.

“I find that when we start wanting to reinvent the wheel by putting actors in front of a blue screen, it disconnects us. We can quickly get into this bill, which can look ugly. It’s important to remind the audience that we’re in places where they know they can actually stick.“

“The characters in Furies are colorful, they’re gangsters, criminals… they’re not real, in the sense that they don’t have the same problems as us. These are characters that are redundant.“

“So putting additional characters in a setting that doesn’t ring true, or is too distorted, creates an imbalance that can take us out of the story. For me, you should always try to connect the story with reality. “

The architecture of Paris as a character in itself

By shooting in a natural setting, Cédric Nicola-Troian managed to ensure that Paris became a full-fledged character in Furies. And it’s perhaps his unique take on the City of Light that explains why the series has soared to second place among Netflix’s most-watched series in just four days.

Originally from France, the director, who lived in Paris for many years, has been living in the US for 24 years, where he has had a successful career. “I wanted to share my vision of Paris“, he told us.

“I’m still French, but I have this American vision of the city. I have this vision between a tourist who has never been to Paris and a Parisian who has lived there for years. In France, when we make a French TV series for the French, logically we are not going to focus on monuments that are familiar to everyone..”

“That’s why I wanted to make a TV series for foreigners. I didn’t want to go and shoot the scene at the Trocadero, but to go to the Chapelle expiatoire, which nobody in Paris knows about, even though it’s a great place.“

Watch season 1 tapes Now on Netflix.