NOT LOST IN TRANSLATION
Streaming hits are proof that good TV travels, no matter the language
In January, Netflix users in the U.S. and Canada found a new series about a charming con man out to avenge the death of his father. The mystery thriller, Lupin, quickly picked up a following — despite the fact that it was in French and incorporated the adventures of the fictional Arsène Lupin, the distinctly French character at the centre of Maurice Leblanc's novels. The show quickly became the streamer's most popular non-english title, Netflix says. Lupin: Part 2 arrived June 11, with a third already announced.
In addition to becoming the first French original to chart in the U.S. Top 10 list, Lupin, watched by 76 million subscribers in its first 28 days, is Netflix's biggest original series — regardless of language — so far this year.
All Netflix series considered, Lupin is behind only Bridgerton, which Netflix says played to 82 million subscribers. Last year's medieval sleeper hit, The Witcher, was also viewed by around 76 million, Netflix says. (Netflix has changed its internal metrics over the years and now considers a title watched if a viewer tunes in for the first two minutes at least.)
Over the past few years, Netflix and other major streaming platforms have pushed out an increasing number of non-english-language TV series that appeal to viewers across the world. But the pandemic, which stalled a number of Hollywood productions last spring, opened even more viewers to TV shows outside of their native language. In a time of uncertainty and isolation, they found solace in feel-good Korean dramas, thrilling telenovelas and other international gems. While the proverbial water-cooler may never again be a physical gathering place, it's arguably more vast than ever.
Bela Bajaria, head of global TV at Netflix, said the platform's users have embraced “shows from many different countries and many different genres.” In 2020, non-english viewing (including series and films) from U.S. subscribers grew by 50 per cent.
Bajaria said Netflix also saw significant spikes in the consumption of K-dramas and anime, two genres with well-established international fan bases.
One such success was Crash Landing On You, a tender Korean drama about the unlikely romance between a North Korean army captain and a South Korean businesswoman who ends up on the other side of the region's demilitarized zone after a paragliding mishap.
The past year has also marked resonant non-english efforts at other streaming networks including Apple TV+, which brought the Israeli psychological thriller Losing Alice to its subscribers in January, and HBO Max, which debuted the universally lauded Spanish biographical series Veneno to a U.S. audience. HBO'S streaming service is also home to the first four seasons of the Italian organized crime drama Gomorrah, an international juggernaut that first aired in the U.S. on Sundance TV. A fifth and final season is in the works.
Netflix, which recently reported 208 million subscribers, started producing original series outside of the U.S. in 2015, with the Mexican dramedy Club de Cuervos, and has branched out to producing local content in 20 countries. It had early success with shows including Dark, a sci-fi thriller that became the platform's first German-language series in 2017, and Élite, a soapy teen thriller/murder mystery that opened, to notable buzz, as its second Spanish-language original in 2018.
In September, Netflix will release the fifth and final season of Casa de Papel (Money Heist), its most popular Spanish series to date.
It was the platform's most popular non-english series from 2018 to 2020.
Lupin shoots in Paris, with a mostly French cast and crew.
The exception is creator and showrunner George Kay, a British screenwriter whose credits include Killing Eve and British-french thriller The Tunnel.
While Lupin's setting and cast lend a cultural authenticity to the series, Kay said the show is “about universal themes” with dialogue “that would pass very evenly into a U.K. show or an American show.”
Lupin debuted amid ongoing discourse around systemic racism, particularly in the U.S., and subtly spoke to similar themes. The racism Assane regularly experiences, along with his father's unjust fate, is inextricable from his deceptions and how they subvert the expectations of those around him. Often his schemes take advantage of microaggressions — being mistaken for other Black men, for example, or being nearly invisible in predominantly white circles.
“The social aspects of it started to fit in with the tricks,” Kay said. “Because if you have prejudice or you have privilege, you have something of a gap between you and other people. And it's in those gaps that Assane can kind of cause havoc.”
The difference is not just in what viewers are consuming (many people around the world have been watching dubbed or subtitled TV for decades), but what businesses are providing: As Netflix and other streaming platforms offer an increasing number of international efforts, content creators and production companies are stepping up to meet the demand.
The pandemic, which stalled a number of Hollywood productions last spring, opened even more viewers to TV shows outside of their native language.