The fraud of the century. This is how it was defined by the French media. Between 2008 and 2009, two fraudsters and a rich young man addicted to finance and poker diverted several billion euros into their pockets from a carbon tax implemented in 2005 by the European Union to fight climate change. The real story of this scam comes to Filmin this Tuesday with Blood and Money, the first series from director Xavier Giannoli, winner of the César for best film for Lost Illusions (2021).
“What is striking about this story is that these criminals stole money from the State that was intended for the well-being of all of us and to fight climate change. The only thing these greedy people wanted was to buy luxury cars and airplanes,” Giannoli explains to La Vanguardia. “You cannot be more miserable or fall lower.” Although it is estimated that these criminals appropriated 5 billion euros in six months, the French director believes that “we will never know the exact amount of money that was diverted.”
To make this series, the filmmaker relied on the book published in 2018 by Fabrice Arfi, a highly prestigious journalist in France, who investigated the ins and outs of the scam. “I was struck by the story and the strength of each of the characters, by their small and big stories that happen to them on a personal level: jealousy, drama, stupidity, family… the essence of the human being in short.”
One of the most recognized French interpreters, Vincent Lindon, is the star of the series, where he plays a character that does not exist in the book, the researcher Simon Weynachter. Through it, “the uncompromising and absolutely independent view” that Arfi himself conveyed in the book is offered. “Instead of doing it through a journalist, we decided to do it through an investigator.”
“Unlike the rest of the characters, Weynachter does have limits and a very clear line that is repeated throughout the series and that is ‘this is how far we have come, we cannot allow even one more step,’” says Giannoli. “He is a man with very strict moral and legal feelings and in this series he faces the rest of the people who have no morals and do not give a damn,” he continues.
There will also be a personal factor that will develop in parallel: “The investigator lives the human drama of wanting to prove the guilt of these criminals while at the same time he himself feels guilty for having been incapable of being a good father.”
Critics and audiences praise Lindon’s great acting work. “Through her presence, her gaze and her voice, Lindon transmits truth and credibility,” Giannoli defends. “And he manages to express his anger, which is undoubtedly that of many people when observing the impunity, the waste of money and the hypocrisy of politicians.”
The character’s contribution of confronting lies, not only that of scammers but also that of the world of politics and banking, is one of the keys to the series. “The viewer accompanies the investigator from the beginning and perfectly understands all the steps he takes,” adds Giannoli about this character.
“As a director and screenwriter it is very rare to have in our hands a story so rich, with so many nuances and so human that speaks to us about an era,” concludes the filmmaker for whom the central question posed in this series is “how can we keep believing? Is the only value we have left is money? oh really?”.
Filmin premieres this Tuesday the first part of Blood and Money, made up of six 50-minute chapters, and the second part, with another six, will arrive in March.