In the summer of 1996, TF1 offered its viewers a fresco as romantic as it is exotic, a saga of eight episodes of eighty-minute minutes turned … under 40 ° C in the shade! An ambitious production, funded with Swiss and German televisions and orchestrated by the master of the genre Jean Sagols, already in the controllers of cult sagas as THE Burnt hearts or The big tides. RenamedIndigo terre After having worked the working title for a long time Bleu Indigothis fiction created by the director Gilles Gerardin and the author Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt immerses us in the 1920s and the history of the Vallogne family. After the bankruptcy of its wine estate, the Bordeaux clan tries to rebuild itself in Cuba, in a property bought previously. But what was then a flourishing land is only an unusable marsh filled with mosquitoes. Constance, broken by the death of his son, sinks into depression, while his sister Mathilde tries to dry up the swamps. For his part, Pierre, the escaped brother of the prison, hides under a false identity. He falls in love with Queen (daughter of the old sharecropper of the family), promised to another. On the day of her engagement, Reine discovers the truth on stone, causing a public scandal …
Indigo terre : Francis Huster and Cristiana Cristiana Reali as a couple in life as on the screen
To embody this family saga, TF1 brings together a five -star cast. Francis Huster (who will come back in Zodiac) embodies Joseph Vallogne, eldest of the family and honest doctor wrongly radiated from the Council of the Order, while Cristiana Reali plays Constance, her disturbing companion (that she was also in life). Mireille Darc, in one of her latest major television roles, shines in Clélia Debarbera, a whimsical tenant for an establishment where hosts sometimes find more than simple games of chance … Jean-Marc Thibault, Xavier Deluc and Charlotte Kady complete this prestigious cast of small screen regulars. The saga also reveals young talents: Barbara Schulz and Mathieu Delarive.
Indigo terre : And complicated shooting in Cuba
The shooting takes place in Cuba for almost six months, in particularly trying conditions: stifling heat, humidity greater than 80 %, cyclones, fuel shortages and difficult supplies due to the American embargo … The team crisscross the island, from Havana to Trinidad, from Viñales to Varadero, in search of the most beautiful natural decorations. “”For me, Cuba is the most beautiful studio in the world and I hope that soon the big productions will understand that they have a huge chance of being able to turn here. The people deserves it because they have extraordinary human warmth “said at the time Francis Huster.
Indigo terre : A great success on TF1
Broadcast from July 8, 1996 to August 26, 1996, Indigo terre stands out as summer card. Each episode brings together an average of seven million viewers, a solid figure which confirms the attachment of the French to the large summer sagas of TF1. The series will offer a replay on France Ô in 2016 but, unfortunately for the nostalgic, remains not found today.
Indigo terre : A cult song as a generic
The phenomenon exceeds the screen: the song of the credits, interpreted by Barbara Scaff and Philippe Candelon, composed by Catherine Lara, becomes a tube. Her captivating melody, tinged with tropical sounds, entered the top 50 during the summer of 1996. And even today, she instantly evokes the series to those who followed her.
