Plus belle la vie, sometimes known by the acronym PBLV, is a 5-days-a-week French TV soap created by Magaly Richard-Serrano, Bénedicte Achard, Georges Desmouceaux, and Olivier Szulzynger, and produced by Hubert Besson, Michèle Podroznik, and François Charlent. On air since 30 August 2004, it currently goes out at 20.15 each Monday to Friday evening on France 3.
Reflecting the daily lives of the inhabitants of "le Mistral", an imaginary neighbourhood in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where wealthy families cross paths with the less than rich, two main types of storyline dominate, covering:
⁕the day-to-day doings of the inhabitants of le Mistral, their troubles and triumphs, and the evolution of their love-lives and friendships;
⁕the criminal intrigues in which certain residents of the neighbourhood are involved.
The series attracts an average audience of 5.3 million viewers with a 23.2% audience share each weekday evening. On 17 November 2008, Plus belle la vie received its highest-ever rating figure, with over 6.8 million viewers and a 24.9% audience share.
John H. Groberg, a middle class kid from Idaho Falls, crosses the Pacific to become a Mormon missionary in the remote and exotic Tongan island kingdom during the 1950's. He leaves behind a loving family and the true love of his life, Jean. Through letters and musings across the miles, John shares his humbling and sometimes hilarious adventures with "the girl back home", and her letters buoy up his spirits in difficult times. John must struggle to overcome language barriers, physical hardship and deep-rooted suspicion to earn the trust and love of the Tongan people he has come to serve. Throughout his adventure-filled three years on the islands, he discovers friends and wisdom in the most unlikely places. John H. Groberg's Tongan odyssey will change his life forever.
At the turning point of the Iran-Contra affair, Elena McMahon, a fearless investigative journalist covering the 1984 US presidential campaign, puts herself in danger when she abandons her assigned task in order to fulfill the last wish of her ailing father, a mysterious man whose past activities she barely knows…
Estranged from her family, Franny returns home when an accident leaves her brother comatose. Retracing his life as an aspiring musician, she tracks down his favorite musician, James Forester. Against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s music scene, Franny and James develop an unexpected relationship and face the realities of their lives.
In this dreamy romance set in China during the fourth-century, a young woman convinces her parents to allow her to dress as a boy and attend university.
Chen Zhen returns to the international compound of China only to learn of his beloved teacher's death. This is compounded by the continual racist harassment by the Japanese population in the area. Unlike his friends, he confronts it head on with his mastery of martial arts while investigating his teacher's murder.
Zhang Wei, the general manager of a five-star hotel, was pressured by work throughout his life until he met Luo Xi, a girl who could get Zhang Wei out of his busy state. Zhang Wei was impressed by the goodness and beauty of Luo Xi, and eventually sprouting the feeling of love. Luo Xi gradually saw the gentle side behind the iceberg Zhang Wei and her affection for Zhang Wei gradually escalated. Tao Lun, who secretly loves Luo Xi, but in the eyes of Luo Xi, Tao Lun is like a big brother. In disappointing, Tao Lun focused on his own career, and slowly found a feeling of love with Liu Wen Na. When a powerful hotel group plans to build a hotel that will lead to the destruction of the beautiful natural scenery. Zhang Wei and Tao Lun joined hands together to maintain the beautiful natural scenery.
The year is 2046 and 82 year old Golden Chicken (slang for prostitute) Kum (Sandra Ng), spots a heartbroken man (Chapman To) planning to take memory loss-pills. Claiming that Hong Kong people have a way of forgetting, she begins to recap part of her life story, starting in 2003 during a time where she was desperately looking for a husband and the SARS outbreak happened...
The lead actress is Shu Pei Pei, who is quite forceful as a no-nonsense fighter decked out in an array of colorful swordswoman fashions. I've seen her in nine other films, although I don't recall any which featured her in an action role before. This one is the very last film she did, according to her IMDb filmography. It came at the very end of the Shaw Bros. swordswoman cycle, which had been dominated by Cheng Pei Pei and Shih Szu up to this time. Miss Shu is very good and I wish she'd played more roles like this. Her character is Miss Ba, whose brother is involved in some shady deals with the "rascals" from the title village. When he turns up dead, with a note implicating the film's hero, Luo Hong Xun, Ms Ba vows revenge and goes after Mr. Luo, even though she knew her brother was being used by the bad guys. Eventually, Miss Ba and Mr. Luo team up to seek out the real culprits, culminating in a stunning series of fight sequences in the "village of tigers."