Producer Frank Doelger explains why he wanted something more upbeat.
Underwater anxiety ends tonight on France 2. The series Abyss unveils its last two episodes and its conclusion. A somewhat different ending to the book The Swarm (2004), whose producer Frank Doelger was inspired.
He who worked for 9 seasons on Game of Thrones confided to us, during the Séries Mania festival, “having wanted something different and something contemporary.“So he did not hesitate to revise the writings of Frank Schätzing.
“In the novel, all the characters are white men of a certain age like the character of Cécile de France. But the novel dates from 2004 and that’s not how the world works anymore. There’s a lot more diversity among environmental science students and professors, so we changed the characters, we rejuvenated them to be more in tune with the world as it is.” explained Frank Doelger at Premiere.
He thus adapted the book with a certain perspective, an ecological ambition carried towards optimism. Contrary to the original novel:I had some reservations at first, because at the end of The Swarm (the book), something very dark is described to us. It’s a hopeless end. So we wanted to do something else. Change it completely. Our adaptation is more of a genre film, a monster film. But we realize that the monster in question is only defending itself, defending its environment, the animals that live at the bottom of the ocean. And finally, the monster is us. When we become aware of this, we give ourselves the means to act, to change our behavior. If one decides to change, there is the possibility of hope.”
Et Frank Doelger to explain that if there is “already a lot of things in the documentaries and in the news around climate change”series Abyss thus opted for adifferent approach. The series even ends up becoming poetic and I believe that in the end, the emotions add an additional dimension to the understanding of the ecological problem”.
