French Drama Series ‘The Red and the Black’: Passion, Power, Political Intrigue and Victor Belmondo’s Anti-Romantic Hero
A four-part French television series adapting Stendhal's 1830 novel "The Red and the Black" is making its international market debut at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, sold by Wild Bunch. Directed by Gaël Morel and written by Georges-Marc Benamou and Gilles Taurand, the show stars Victor Belmondo as Julien Sorel, an ambitious young man of modest origins who rises through society amid passion, power and political intrigue, in a story the creators argue speaks directly to present-day concerns.
The series, produced by Siècle Productions for France Télévisions, reunites director Morel with Belmondo following their 2024 drama "To Live, to Die, to Live Again," while writers Benamou and Taurand previously collaborated on "The Last Mitterrand" and "The Plague." It follows earlier adaptations including Claude Autant-Lara's 1954 film and the 1993 BBC series featuring Ewan McGregor. Benamou and Morel highlight parallels with contemporary issues such as stalled social mobility, resurgent moral conservatism and women's emancipation, describing Sorel as an "anti-romantic hero" whose thwarted ambitions make him both compelling and tragic. Morel notes the novel's abundance of characters and subplots made it a demanding work to adapt for the screen, having already screened at Canneseries and the Italian Global Series Festival.
In short
- New French series adapts Stendhal's classic novel "The Red and the Black"
- Victor Belmondo stars as ambitious anti-hero Julien Sorel
- Series debuts internationally at Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre
Explained simply
Stendhal’s The Red and the Black is an 1830 novel set in France after the fall of Napoleon, when social rank and political loyalties shaped people’s prospects. It follows Julien Sorel, a clever young man from a modest family who seeks a place among the wealthy and influential.
Sorel’s rise brings him into contact with powerful people and relationships that complicate his ambitions. The story explores how class, religion and changing ideas about women affect people’s choices, and has been adapted for film and television before.