«Franklin» - Series Review by Kinoafisha

1776. The Continental Congress of the 13 states, recently declared independent from Great Britain, sends Benjamin Franklin (played by Michael Douglas) as their representative to France. Franklin, a printer, publisher, journalist, writer, Freemason, scientist, and public figure, whose face is familiar to anyone who has ever held or been lucky enough to see a $100 American bill. By this time, the future founding father of the United States is already 70 years old. He suffers from gout and seems endlessly tired.

Franklin arrives in France with his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe), a clever but somewhat characterless and superficial young man to whom he is very attached (a rare sentiment for Franklin, who avoids deep emotions). The boy, on the brink of adulthood, serves as his secretary and reminds him of the offense inflicted by his son William, Temple's father, who sided with the English crown in conflict and is now languishing in American imprisonment, casting a shadow on Franklin's name and allowing his numerous enemies in the revolution to accuse him of playing both sides.

In the hexagonal country, however, Franklin seems to be loved by everyone. The common people appreciate him for his openness, directness, and his absurd fur hat. Philosophers and physiocrats admire his sharp and observant mind, salon hostesses appreciate his industrial-scale witticisms and humor, and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Vergennes (played by Thibaut de Montalembert), appreciates the opportunity to finally stir up trouble for his eternal rivals—the English, who have recently emerged victorious from the Seven Years' War.

Things are not going well on the American revolutionary front. Shortly after Franklin's arrival in Europe, the English capture Philadelphia—the capital of the United States at that time. Hope remains only for assistance—gratuitous assistance—from France. Franklin must convince Versailles to recognize the new American republic and form a military alliance against Great Britain. Temple, though often distracting him from state affairs, will help him, along with his long-time friend Dr. Edward Bancroft (Daniel Mays), the famous playwright Beaumarchais (Assaad Bouab), and the wealthy merchant Jacques de Chaumont (Olivier Claverie), hoping for lucrative contracts with the new state.

In general, the exposition of "Franklin," based on Stacy Schiff's book "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America," published in 2005, is very rich and requires a verbose retelling, essentially being such. The plot closely follows the historical events and resembles a lovingly drawn illustration. Of course, some secondary characters, like Benny Bache, another grandson taken to Europe by Franklin, or other American emissaries in Paris, like Silas Deane, have been brushed aside, but the most striking deviation from reality seems to be Michael Douglas's outrageously lush vegetation thriving where Franklin's bald spot once was.

Among the founding fathers, Franklin appears the most affable and humane. His "Poor Richard's Almanack" served as a humorous apologia for both the philosophy of common sense, middle-class values, and the Protestant work ethic that equated labor and prosperity with spiritual dignity (not coincidentally, he derived his surname from the Old English "frankeleyn," meaning a class of free craftsmen and merchants). Franklin, avoiding open conflicts, relied on soft power, unlike his uncompromising colleague John Adams (played by Eddie Marsan)—a man of rigid, unrestrained demands rather than negotiations. By the way, there is an HBO miniseries dedicated to Adams—interesting to observe how the accents and sympathies of the creators change along with the protagonist of the narrative.

The religious Adams—by the way, a future President of the United States—accused Franklin, whose son and grandson were born out of wedlock, of all mortal sins, which, however, was only partly true. This aspect of his life receives considerable attention. Despite his age, Franklin was known for his frivolities (especially by Puritan standards) and playful manners, earning the affections—albeit mostly platonic—of two Parisian ladies at once: Madame de Brillon (Ludivine Sagnier) and Madame Helvetius (Jeanne Balibar), the widow of Claude Helvetius.

The creators of the series—director Tim Van Patten, screenwriters Kirk Ellis and Howard Korder—managed to recreate Franklin's character, charmingly portrayed by Michael Douglas, based on the numerous texts he left behind. His lines often quote letters he himself wrote, but they did not manage to penetrate beyond the myth he created of himself as an eccentric philosopher, conjuring lightning and never parting with his fur hat for the entertainment of the crowd. However, they clearly did not set such a goal for themselves. The narrative deviates from Franklin's personality only to tell the adventures of Temple—fairly monotonous, predictable, and seemingly unnecessary (in short, he immerses himself in the bohemian life of the French aristocracy).

In short, "Franklin," if you're not a big fan of literary biographies, serves as a wonderful brief retelling of the ten years he spent in France, where he arrived as an agent of an unrecognized bunch of separatists in the world and left as an ambassador of a new powerful state, embodying the myth of a land where a person can live freely. A myth that is alive to this day.