In January 2021, my dad told me that foreign language shows have become popular during the pandemic. I’ve been watching a lot of foreign language movies, and T.V. shows during quarantine, and I was already a big fan of them before they became popular.
My dad found this French Comedy on Netflix called “Call My Agent!” The original French name is "Dix Pour Cent”. (Means Ten Percent)
It’s a show about a talent agency in Paris, and each episode shows a different client for the characters of the show to deal with. I was already getting hooked to the show during the first episode. It’s the type of show that is hard to take a break from. You really get into what these characters go through everyday.
The whole show is spoken in French, so if you can handle reading subtitles each hour, I strongly recommend you watch “Call My Agent”. This show is the bomb!
One of the agents, Gabriel, has trouble telling the truth at times. Like if one of his clients has high hopes for a job, and they get turned down he’ll avoid them because he’s too chicken to tell them the truth. Other than that, Gabriel also has a sweet side to him. He has a brother sister relationship with one of the other agents Andrea Martel. Andrea has two sides to her. There’s the side that takes responsibility when it comes to her job, and there’s the side that likes to party, and fool around with other women a lot. The only problem she has is trying to get into a serious relationship. Andrea is really into this girl, and she wants her as a girlfriend, but she keeps screwing up.
Andrea, and Mathias are usually the ones who take care of the clients in person. From the looks of it, the clients can always count on their agents to help.
The woman at the front desk, Sofia, wants to achieve a career in acting, and she hopes the agency can help her. Gabriel can see Sofia has what it takes to be an actor, and he wants to help her succeed. They both develop a special relationship.
Another agent, Mathias, had an affair with another woman years ago, and he got her pregnant. Their daughter, Camille, manages to get a job at the agency. Mathias doesn’t want his family, and co-workers to know Camille is his daughter. The reason Camille got the job was so she could see more of her father, and get to know him more. Mathias avoids Camille at times, but they end up developing a father, daughter relationship.
Working at an agency is not easy for Camille, and she makes a few mistakes. But the more she gets to know the agency, the more she learns how things work.
There’s always something new going on with these characters. The people who work together are like family, but then again a lot of TV series have that. As the series goes on, you see the characters go through changes in their lives. I won’t say what they are because I don’t want to give away too much. Except for one. I’ll explain it shortly.
“Call My Agent” has managed to get a lot of big names to guest star on the show. Sigourney Weaver is the only American actor who has guest starred on “Call My Agent". The rest are French. There’s Cecile de France, Juliette Binoche, Audrey Fleurot, Joey Starr, Christopher Lambert, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Isabelle Adjani, Francois Berleand, Jean Dujardin, Beatrice Dalle, Jean Reno, Isabelle Huppert, and Monica Bellucci. They’ll play themselves being clients for the show’s characters.
On the episode with Beatrice Dalle it shows her refusing to do a nude scene for a new movie she is involved with, and she explains to the director why. I assumed it might have been because of the experience she had with her first feature, “Betty Blue”. My dad believed it was fake, but I believed it was fact. I should know because I did my homework on “Betty Blue” a year ago.
Season 2 ends with the characters being at Cannes. How cool is that?! It’s one of the biggest film festivals, not just in France, but the world! I also like how the ending was shot. Andrea, and Mathias are sitting in lounge chairs looking at a misty sky while they’re at Canne. The camera is on a crane, it’s closing in from behind, then goes over the lounge chairs and the pool, and focusses on the city. My dad likes how it went from one shot to another, to another. It’s three shots he said.
“Call My Agent” had lasted four seasons. The fourth season didn’t give me crazy reactions like the first three seasons did, except for one scene where one of the characters strips in a public area. That scene made me scream. It was the craziest thing I saw that season. Charlotte Gainsbourg was the special guest star of that episode. It was the only episode I really liked from that season. From the looks of it the party was over, for everyone. Andrea certainly was no party girl anymore. She had more responsibilities.
I would have liked to have seen more celebrities on the show. On one episode it almost looked like Lea Seydoux was going to make a special appearance, but it was a false alarm. They should have had her on the show because she was mentioned a lot. Other names I would add to that list are Sofia Boutella, Adele Haenel, Marion Cotillard, and Eva Green. I would have liked to have seen what kind of situation they would be in, and what the agents would do to handle it.
It was nice to get to know the characters, and see them bond with each other. And the show itself was entertaining, and I enjoying it.
