An insight into the lives and problems of the “filthy rich”: Netflix series exposes the Bettencourt case

Dirk Lehmann focuses on infinity. today: Laver Bettencourt On Netflix.

The message read in capital letters: “Le fisc, c’est Chic.” Release on Laver Bettencourt. ‘Super Bean Fit‘, is found Marie Claire. The French press has responded enthusiastically to Netflix’s three-part documentary, which attracts large audiences and pours dramatic sauce on the sensational fraud case surrounding France’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt Myers (1922-2017). But is this series really a high plane?

“Money makes you crazy” and creates “madness on all levels,” is the foundation. We’d like to believe that. After all, the very perky owner of cosmetics giant L’Oréal allowed nearly a billion euros to be stolen from her by French photographer François-Marie Panier. She entered into a heated dispute over this (for less) with her only daughter and heiress Françoise (although there was still 39 billion euros left). A family feud exploded into a national scandal that had repercussions all the way to patent fraudster Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign and cover-up of a tangle of tax malpractices.

Insight into life Obscene wealthEspecially when they have a problem: Netflix producers can’t get enough of it. No doubt, filmmakers Baptiste Etchegaray and Maxime Bonnet had a difficult time with the Bettencourt case, especially since the Bettencourt family was known as “the most secretive in France.” Until the dirty laundry flowed through the butler, Pascal Bonnefoy. He secretly made audio recordings of Liliane’s conversations with her advisors, and showed them to Françoise. Hence the somewhat silly English title of the series: Billionaire, servant, and friend.

The ball started rolling when brilliant photographer François-Marie Panier photographed Liliane Bettencourt for the magazine in 1987. selfishness. The images moved the lonely, always tough-looking billionaire, after which Banier and Liliane formed an unusually close bond. But what did the Paneer ram prey on? “He doesn’t just like money, he loves it,” says one witness. “I didn’t expect him to line his pockets like that,” says singer-actress Ariel Dombasle. “Adopt me, the son you never had,” Banier Lilian warns. Until daughter Françoise wants her mother under guardianship.

Laver Bettencourt He has a golden substance in his hands. However, the mix of original audio recordings, re-enacted scenes and testimonies (such as that given by her former agent Patrice de Maistre, a few lawyers and a group of French investigative journalists) remains somewhat chaotic. Intimus Dombasle, who now feels “abused” and “scandalized” by filmmakers, unapologetically delivers the best. parler vrai. The camera that constantly pans high above Lillian’s peaks and charges during the show is simply annoying. Satanic fascinated by In the country house it takes on a funny appeal.

And Banier, who is now also Lily-Rose Depp’s “godfather”? He escaped largely unharmed. He was sentenced to four years’ probation after an “abuse of trust” and faced a €375,000 fine. But broke? far from. Pannier’s provocative memoir will be published next spring: Interrupted dialogues. paying off!