"These refugees need help, and no one else is lifting a finger. I don't need a better reason."
— Varian Fry
Transatlantic is a 2023 Period Drama miniseries by Anna Winger and Daniel Hendler, adapted from the novel The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer.
The show is set in 1940 Marseille, France, the "last free port" from where those fleeing the Nazis can escape Europe. Two Americans, heiress Mary Jayne Gold (Gillian Jacobs) and journalist Varian Fry (Cory Michael Smith), involved with the Emergency Rescue Committee try to obtain travel visas for the predominantly Jewish refugees in Marseille, but their efforts are hindered by both the neutral American embassy and the Vichy government.
A tracker, Lisa Fittko (Deleila Piasko), discovers a lightly guarded footpath to Spain through the Pyrennes. She returns to Marseille with a German Jew, Albert Hirschman (Lucas Englander), to tell Varian and Mary Jayne of the route. The group now plots to save even more people, even as the law begins cracking down on refugees and their finances dwindle.
Other actors in the series include Ralph Amoussou as Paul Kandjo, Amit Rahav as Thomas Lovegrove, and Corey Stoll as Graham Patterson.
The show was released on April 7, 2023 on Netflix.
Tropes:
- Cigarette of Anxiety: In episode 2 Mary Jayne bums a cigarette from Thomas while freaking out about getting cut off by her dad.
- Clothing Switch: In the first episode, Mary Jayne suggests to a Ursula, a refugee, that she can clean herself up and present herself on the boat. In the next scene, Mary Jayne walks out wearing Ursula's dirty dress instead of the fine yellow one she was wearing earlier.
- Cunning Linguist: Albert is fluent in English, French, Italian, and German. He uses the latter in the first episode, pretending to be a Gestapo officer to scare off some French border guards.
- Driven to Suicide: As in real life, Walter Benjamin commits suicide on the French-Spanish border. He is portrayed as increasingly distraught by the worsening circumstances and asks Lisa to make sure his life's work survives.
- Historical Domain Character: Fry, Gold, Hirschman, Fittko and Bingham were all real people who helped get refugees out of Marseille. The show also features some of the people they saved, such as Max Ernst.
- Mister Muffykins: Exploited by Mary Jayne, who totes her little terrier Dagobert around to better sell her clueless woman facades.
- Race for Your Love: In the final episode, Albert has to race to Mary Jayne before she flies out of Marseille. Though they affirm their mutual love for each other, they decide that they cannot be together.
- La Résistance: From the historical and real Trope Namer, no less. The entire plot revolves around a group of Résistants who exfiltrates Jews, prisoners and political opponents from Nazi Germany and Vichy France.
- Rich Boredom: Mary Jayne refuses her father's requests to return home because she knows she'll be stuck as a Midwestern society wife if she goes back, and keeping refugees out of the clutches of the Nazis is a more worthwhile use of her family money.
- Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Mary Jayne's wealthy father disapproves of her using her fortune to smuggle refugees out of World War II-era France, and would rather she come home and settle down.Mary Jayne: People think there's nothing they can do, so they don't do anything.
Albert: Most people don't expect rich, beautiful American girls to do anything at all. - Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!:
- In the first episode, Varian is asked why he's risking his life to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis, even if it risks his protected status as a journalist in France. He replies that he can't stand to let an injustice happen without doing anything.
- Hiram Bingham IV is the American vice consul, but disagrees with the American government's neutral stance and helps the ERC forge escape paperwork for the refugees.Bingham: No friends [in the consulate]. Just me.
- Smoking Is Glamorous: It's 1940 Europe so everyone smokes, but the British spy Margaux does it while wearing glamorous dresses and using fine cigarette holders, fitting her characterization as a sophisticated spy.
- The Team Benefactor: In the first episode, Mary Jayne's wealth bankrolls the Emergency Rescue Committee, covering lodging, transport, and bail for any would-be refugees. Then her dad cuts her off...
- Truth in Television: A common myth about the Résistance in France's mainland is to think its groups were coordinated between them and with the Allies, heavily equipped and doing guerilla warfare since the beginning of the Occupation. This representation comes from the year 1944. note . But Transatlantic is closer to how the French Résistance actually was during the early years of the war: isolated groups with few contacts between them, no contacts with foreign Armies except when the British intelligence contacted them first, few weapons and so leading even fewer armed actions, and mainly doing non-violent actions — in that case exfiltrations.
- Undercover as Lovers: Albert and Mary Jayne pretend to be lovers who "just had oysters" in order to get past some Vichy guards. Their makeout session to prove this makes the guard so uncomfortable he lets them through without issue.
- Underground Railroad: The Emergency Rescue Committee smuggling Jews and other people targeted by the Nazis out of France. Their first idea, having them stow away on a boat, is raided by officers. Then they find a route to Spain, but it requires passing through the Pyrenees on foot...
- Vehicle-Based Characterization: Albert can tell Mary Jayne is well off because she's driving a beautiful Mercedes-Benz in Vichy France.
