Mare of Easttown

A very well written TV drama

“Mare of Easttown” is available on Sky/Now, Prime or HBO (depending on where you live), starring Kate Winslet as Detective Marianne “Mare” Sheehan. It’s a miniseries of seven episodes of about an hour each.

I’ll say right away that I really liked it!

The story seems like something I’ve heard before. In a small town where everyone knows everyone, so much so that when they have a problem, even the most trivial, they call Detective Sheehan (known as Mare) directly, instead of the police station, a girl has been missing for over a year and now another one is found dead in the woods.
Mare investigates and does it her own way, not always respecting the rules.
Is there perhaps a connection? Could a serial killer be involved?

This is what you would expect from a classic detective story set in a quiet American town where a crime is committed that shocks everyone.

But “Mare of Easttown” doesn’t fall into this category of TV series. This miniseries tells the story of a woman who has suffered a tragedy and tries to survive by dedicating herself to her work in the police force and therefore to community service. But it also tells the complex stories involving various residents of Easttown, which are intertwined with each other and with the crimes that Mare is investigating.

There is such complexity in the plot and depth in the characters that I thought it was based on a novel. To tell you the truth, I was almost sure of it when it turned out that one of the characters (played by Guy Pearce) was the typical writer who, after having had a great success with one book, never wrote another and ended up becoming a teacher (a cliché found in many novels).

But no. It’s an original miniseries made for TV, which is impeccably written and which develops without any forcing, without excessive use of coincidences and shortcuts. It is so well written that it could be a true story, banally tragic as only reality can be, but told with the perfect timing that only fiction is capable of creating.

Each episode is intriguing and ends with a new element or an unexpected twist that leaves the viewer hanging. The real murderer is only revealed at the end, after many suspects have been identified, and it’s the solution that makes the most sense to explain the crime, but it’s also the one that’s the hardest to think about, especially when you think you’re watching a simple crime series instead of what it actually is: a drama.

In all of this, Kate Winslet’s talent shines through, whose presence alone is a guarantee of quality and who, supported by an excellent cast, makes the whole staging credible and allows you to share the fears and pains of Mare, a character who, thanks to her intuition and her fallible humanity, cannot fail to fascinate and involve you.

In short, it’s a miniseries that absolutely deserves to be watched!

Press cuts: Kindred Intentions

This is a list of articles, interviews, and reviews related to my action thriller “Kindred Intentions”.
New articles are added on the top.
Check them out!

Interview with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on The World of Barbara G. Tarn (7 January 2018):
https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/sunday-surprise-201/

Review of Kindred Intentions on Knight Mist’s Blog (28 October 2017):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2017/10/28/kindred-intentions-by-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Kindred Intentions by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on The Big Thrill (April 2016):
https://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/04/kindred-intentions-by-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Learn more about Kindred Intentions on www.anakina.net/kindred

Press cuts: Red Desert series

This is a list of articles, interviews, and reviews related to my science fiction series “Red Desert”.
New articles are added on the top.
Check them out!

Interview with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Nicolas Lemieux website (15 November 2022):
https://www.nicolaslemieux.com/post/rita-carla-francesca-monticelli

Review of the Red Desert series on Nicolas Lemieux website (6 July 2020):
https://www.nicolaslemieux.com/post/point-of-no-return

Review of the Red Desert series on SciFi Mind (14 May 2020):
https://www.scifimind.com/red-desert-series-by-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli-a-review/

Audio interview with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Origin: Stories on Creativity (9 May 2018):
https://youtu.be/l-vmO81v09Q?si=0EMll3EjQ_7EVWuX

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Rae Of Light (13 April 2018):
https://raestoltenkamp.blogspot.com/2018/04/indie-intro.html

Review of Red Desert on The PanFuture Society (24 August 2016):
https://panfuture.org/blog/index_files/red-desert.html

Interview with Anna Persson (main character in Red Desert) on The Protagonist Speaks (20 July 2016):
https://theprotagonistspeaks.com/2016/07/20/anna-persson-of-red-desert-by-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Jay Michael Wright II’s Writing Page (10 June 2016):
https://jmw2author.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/red-desert-point-of-no-return/

Review of Red Desert – Back Home on Knight Mist’s Blog (5 October 2015):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/red-desert-back-home-book-4-by-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Readers’ Favorite (2 September 2015):
https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/red-desert

Review of Red Desert – Invisible Enemy on Knight Mist’s Blog (10 July 2015):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/red-desert-invisible-enemy-by-author-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Writer In Progress: Red Desert – Point of No Return, written by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Come Walk on the Darke Side (28 February 2015):
https://darkeconteur.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/writer-in-progress-red-desert-point-of-no-return-written-by-rita-carla-francesca-monicelli/

Review of Red Desert – People of Mars on Knight Mist’s Blog (23 September 2014):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/people-of-mars-by-autor-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Review of Red Desert – People of Mars on Laura of Lurking reads (1 September 2014):
https://lauraoflurkng.blogspot.com/2014/09/red-desert-people-of-mars-by-rita-carla.html

Video review and reading of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Doug Turnbull’s YouTube Channel (31 July 2014):
https://youtu.be/pRjC3oJc1sE?si=_AY4oTFFzlCxvdEn

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Laura of Lurking reads (21 July 2014):
https://lauraoflurkng.blogspot.com/2014/07/red-desert-point-of-no-return-by-rita.html

Ten Plus One Questions with Author Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Knight Mist’s Blog (14 July 2014):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/ten-plus-one-questions-with-author-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Author Spotlight with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Fire & Ice Book Reviews (11 July 2014):
https://www.fireandicebookreviews.com/2014/07/author-spotlight-with-rita-carla.html

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Just a storyteller (6 July 2014):
https://giovanniventuri.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/red-desert-point-of-no-return-by-carla-rita-francesca-monticelli/

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Luca Rossi’s Blog (1 July 2014):
https://www.lucarossi369.com/2014/07/red-desert-point-of-no-return-by-rita-monticelli.html

Review of Red Desert – Point of No Return on Knight Mist’s Blog (30 June 2014):
https://knightmist.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/red-desert-point-of-no-return-by-author-rita-carla-francesca-monticelli/

Interview with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Mary T. Bradford’s Blog (15 June 2014):
https://marytbradford-author.blogspot.com/2013/06/all-author-blog-blitz.html

Interview with Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli on Now, Y’all (14 June 2014):
https://reginagarson.blogspot.com/2014/06/all-authors-blog-blitz.html

Learn more about the Red Desert series on www.reddesert.eu

Try

(written by Nelly Furtado & Brian West)

All I know
Is everything is not as it's sold
but the more I grow the less I know
And I have so many lives
Though I'm not old
And the more I see, the less I grow
The fewer the seeds the more I sow

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Try

I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn (the more I learn) the more I cry (the more I cry)
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
I'm all I'll ever be
But all I can do is try
Try
Try

All of the moments that already passed
We'll try to go back and make them last
All of the things we want each other to be
We never will be, we never will be
And that's wonderful, and that's life
And that's you, baby
This is me, baby
And we are, we are, we are, we are, we are, we are
Free
In our love
We are free in our love
Try

MP3: © 2004 "Try" performed by Chee (a.k.a. Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli), Dario Tinucci, and Marc Cros. This is a cover of Nelly Furtado's song.

Anakina · TRY

Funny Woman

Your favourite, almost real, very British 1960s TV star

The Sky Original miniseries “Funny Woman” (6 episodes) is based on the novel “Funny Girl” by Nick Hornby.

© Sky Original

Here, if you like, you can read my review of the novel.
I can say that it’s without a doubt my favourite novel by Hornby or, more precisely, the one I enjoyed from start to finish. In general, I really like Hornby’s books, but I tend to find the endings disappointing.

However, there is a fundamental difference between the book and the miniseries: the former seems like a true story, while the latter is clearly fiction.
The strength of the novel was precisely the decision to write it as if it were a fictionalised account of the story of Barbara Parker/Sophie Straw, complete with photos scattered throughout the text. So, when tackling the series (of which Hornby is one of the producers), they had to necessarily emphasise other aspects. They tried to bring the same sense of authenticity into it, using clips from time to time that looked like archive footage, but it was clear from the start that this was a made-up story.

In my opinion, the miniseries has two strong points.
One is the way in which the story has been broken down into six episodes, always choosing the perfect point to insert the interruption, the one that makes you want to continue with the next episode, but at the same time you are satisfied enough to stop if you can’t stay in front of the TV.
The second is undoubtedly the skill of the interpreters. A very blonde (peroxide blonde) Gemma Arterton is perfect in the role of Barbara/Sophie. She is exactly how I imagined her, and she proved to be excellent in her interpretation of the former Blackpool beauty queen who arrives in London in 1964 to seek her fortune. Inexperienced at first and considered unintelligent because of her appearance, she soon finds a way to assert herself with a little luck and cunning.

But the other actors were also perfectly suited to the role and spirit of the miniseries.
Special mention goes to Rupert Everett as Sophie Straw’s Agent (and the inventor of her name), who, despite being made even uglier and older by the make-up, remains a great actor.

I watched it in English, so I don’t know how they managed to adapt it, but at least in the original version the dialogue is sparkling, with lots of hilarious double entendres, but at the same time very British.

In short, if you want to enjoy something light-hearted and that will leave you in a good mood, watch “Funny Woman”!

 

A second season of this series was also produced, consisting of only four episodes, which I suppose continues the story of the protagonist beyond what is narrated in the book, but it has not yet been broadcast in Italy, so I have yet to watch it.

What Happens Later

A romcom for those nostalgic for 90s and 2000s cinema

Among the films I saw at the cinema in 2024 there is “What Happens Later”, directed by Meg Ryan and starring herself together with David Duchovny.

This is a romantic comedy in which the two protagonists, 25 years after the end of their relationship, meet in a remote airport, where, waiting for their respective connections, they remain stranded for many hours due to a snowstorm.
Initially reluctant, they find themselves spending time together and end up discussing their past and what happened in their lives after they broke up.

I went to see this film to enjoy Ryan again on the big screen. I missed her so much and I’m sorry that so much time had to pass before I could see her in a new film.
I feel nostalgic for that cinema of the 90s and early 2000s, and I admit that I feared being disappointed by this vision, especially when I realised that obviously time has passed and she, at 62, is no longer the queen of romantic comedies of the past.
And yet it’s always her.
Her movements, her looks, her expressions are always the same, and for 105 minutes I let myself be carried away by the chatter of Willa, her character, and Bill, Duchovny’s.
Lots and lots of chatter.

The screenplay, co-written by Ryan herself, is based on a play by Steven Dietz. This is immediately evident from the fact that the story takes place entirely in a single location, in which in fact only two characters move:  Willa and Bill. The extras seen at the beginning tend to thin out until they disappear, and the scene is occupied by the main characters’ conversations, which spans between jokes, melancholy, and a pinch of drama.
But they are not totally alone. The third character in this story is the voice that is broadcast from the loudspeakers of the small airport and transmits announcements to the passengers. This voice occasionally intervenes in the conversations of the protagonists, creating only momentary perplexity in them.
Did it really answer, or did they just imagine it?

The title of the film refers to what happens to two people after the end of their relationship, what life they end up having without knowing about the other’s. Willa and Bill have the opportunity to tell each other about it and explain themselves after a long time, and to forgive each other.

If you too feel orphaned by that cinema, if you want to spend an hour and 45 minutes smiling, laughing, and sharing with the protagonists the difficulties they had to face in a life they didn’t spend together, I recommend you watch this film.

The Devil’s Hour

A supernatural thriller TV series that has nothing to do with the Devil

One of the latest TV series I watched is “The Devil’s Hour”. It is an Amazon Original production, so it is exclusive to Prime Video. So far, two seasons are available, for a total of 11 episodes, but a third is already in production.

© Amazon Original

This is a series that spans thriller, drama, and supernatural, but not in the way the title would suggest!

I was attracted to it because of the cast (Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine) and the fact that it is a British production, but I didn’t start watching it right away because the presence of the word “devil” in the title made me think of some kind of mystical/demonic fantasy.
Instead, it has nothing to do with it!

Before going any further, I warn you that, although I won’t tell you anything about the story itself, in the next few lines, I will reveal some details on the underlying theme.
If you prefer to find out while watching (like I did), stop here and start watching the series right away. I’ll tell you that this theme is typically found in science fiction stories, although this one is not (but it’s still speculation fiction).
If you are curious, go ahead. In any case, I won’t give you details on how this theme fits into the story. Don’t worry.

The title comes from 3:33, also called the Devil’s hour, in which the protagonist, Lucy Chambers, wakes up every night, usually interrupting a nightmare.
The speculation fiction element, however, is of a completely different nature: time loops.

As I was saying, this type of element is usually typical of science fiction stories that deal with time manipulation or time travel. In fact, I recently came across it in the series “Project Lazarus”, where these loops had a pseudoscientific explanation.
In “The Devil’s Hour”, however, every attempt at explanation, although falling within the realm of speculation fiction, concerns more than anything its fantasy and supernatural component.

It doesn’t matter because the kind of story that comes out of it, where some characters already know what’s going to happen and can change the course of events and/or where we are shown different timelines with the same characters somehow influencing each other, gives rise to a complex plot structure that challenges the viewer’s ability to concentrate and attention to detail.

All of this is set in the context of a crime thriller with a possible serial killer, but where the villain is not necessarily who you think.

In short, “The Devil’s Hour” has all the elements needed to create an intriguing story that keeps you glued to the screen.
And it succeeds!

One of the strengths of this series is precisely the fact that it transcends the clichés and tropes of genres and mixes them up, continually leading the viewer to doubt their own conclusions and towards new developments, which then, in the end, coincide perfectly.

Perhaps it could discourage the viewer who expected something simpler, but I recommend going ahead without fear, since, even if something may escape at the beginning, everything is explained between the last episode of the first season and the first of the second. From here, the story moves in another direction, highlighting the real villain.
But, to know if our protagonists will be able to identify and stop them, we will have to wait at least for the third season, in which, given the premises of the last episode of the second, the structure of the story could undergo a further expansion, which however I am sure we are ready to face.

I can’t really go into too much detail because a lot of the fun is exploring that narrative structure. It must be said, however, that the first season, released in 2022, was immediately a great success, so much so that two more were ordered. This also means that they were conceived and written as a single entity and not a simple extension of each other, which certainly benefits the narration and maintenance of narrative consistency.

I don’t know whether to advise you to watch these two seasons right away or to wait for the third to be available, because the second one ends with a huge cliffhanger, but at the same time I liked “The Devil’s Hour” so much, and I had so much fun watching it, that I don’t mind at all having to wait to find out what happens next.

On the other hand, the anticipation of pleasure is itself a pleasure, isn’t it?

Megalopolis

An all-round cinematic experience

A frame from Megalopolis

One of the films I saw at the cinema recently is “Megalopolis” by Francis Ford Coppola.

I went to see it after reading some scathing and lapidary reviews here and there, and for this very reason, I was even more intrigued.

 

“Megalopolis” is not an easy, linear, conventional film. It is not suitable for passive viewing. It requires attention, which is why seeing it at the cinema is definitely the best choice, as it eliminates distractions (hopefully!).

 

It is an oneiric fairy tale, full of allegories and surreal scenes, overflowing with references.

The story in its main points is quite simple, so I think it is useless for me to talk about it (you can read the plot anywhere on the web), but what makes it interesting is the way Coppola decided to show it, playing with the script, the sounds, the sets, the visual effects, the music, and the editing.

“Megalopolis” is an all-round cinematic experience.

 

It may appeal to those who love cinema as a tool for creating art and not simply for telling a story.

It’s understandable that Coppola had to self-produce it and that the average viewer found it confusing because they thought they were simply going to see a story, not living inside a work of art.

 

Many of its aspects that seem crazy or random, in reality, have a purpose. Every shot, every word spoken by the protagonists, every sound. Probably to grasp them all you need more than one viewing and a certain cultural background could be helpful, but it is not essential, since I believe that anyone can appreciate them instinctively if they leave aside the schemes and simply follow the flow of the film.

 

Adam Driver is great, but this is certainly not news.

One scene that I particularly liked is the one with the beams suspended at the top of the skyscraper (that’s where the image accompanying this article comes from). It is very suggestive from a visual point of view. At the same time, in the initial part, it represents well the state of mind of the protagonist in one of the key moments of the story.

 

Coppola specifies at the beginning of the film that it is a fairy tale, and the spirit with which it should be viewed is precisely this: you have to suspend your disbelief.

 

This film starts from a dystopian alternative reality to tending towards utopia. It is loaded with fantastic elements, from the supernatural (the ability to stop time) to alchemical-flavoured pseudo-science fiction (the material invented by the protagonist, Megalon). And it is a joy for the eyes of cinema lovers.

 

Some people may even grasp and perhaps appreciate the moral of this tale. Others, like me, simply enjoy the film without worrying too much.

 

In the end, it depends on each of us, on what we look for when we sit in front of the big screen.

If you are a dreamer and since you were a child, like me, you saw the movie theatre as a place where you could cancel yourself and become part of something else, even to escape from the small and large problems of reality, you should see (or watch) it and judge it for yourself.

A Gentleman in Moscow

An original point of view on the events after the Russian Revolution

© Paramount Plus

Today I’m suggesting you the miniseries (8 episodes) “A Gentleman in Moscow” available on Paramount Plus and based on the historical novel of the same name by Amor Towles.

I watched this series over a fairly long period of time (one episode a week or even less) and I realised that such a pace was particularly suited to the story, which takes place over a period of 30 years.

The protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov, after the Russian Revolution, is placed under house arrest at the Hotel Metropol in Moscow. Forced to abandon his suite and (almost) all of his personal belongings, he will be moved to a small, dark and cold attic, but will be able to use all the hotel’s services.

Ewan McGregor is perfect in the role of the nobleman who has suddenly lost all his privileges, but who tries to adapt and, also thanks to the relationship with the characters who work or often stay at the hotel, to shape the environment around him to build a satisfying, at times even happy, life.
Out there, Russia is going through a difficult period of change and an evolution with uncertain outcomes, the echo of which partly reaches the golden universe of the Metropol, where Alexander has to juggle between the threats of a Cheka agent (Soviet secret police) to end his imprisonment with death, the more or less romantic interest in the actress Anna Urbanova, the interest in him of the little Nina Kulikova, daughter of one of the employees, who will become a sort of god-daughter for him, and the pangs of sadness, which at a certain point bring him very close to giving in to the desire to end it all.

This series offers an original point of view on the historical events of Russia between 1917 and 1947 and, mixing drama and irony, it can be watched with pleasure and with a certain involvement.
I found the almost open ending (even though, unfortunately, we know very well that this is not the case) particularly fitting, which makes you smile but with a tear always lurking there.

But there is something that occasionally manages to break the magic, namely the choice to make colour-blind casting, without taking into account the ethnicity of the actors.
It’s something I understand and it makes sense in the theatrical field, where the imaginative effort of the viewer has always been part of the experience, but in a historical television series, which in many ways faithfully reproduces the Russia of that period, finding yourself with approximately a quarter or more of the characters of colour (including a Bolshevik with dreadlocks!) is quite alienating.

I have no doubt that the actors chosen are very good. They certainly are, but often the characters they play are so poorly developed that any skill is completely irrelevant, thus giving rise to the “doubt” that it is a purely rhetorical choice.
But the real problem is that, even if the casting is “blind”, the viewer is not at all. The appearance of these characters is, in fact, a distraction that constantly brings the latter back to reality, breaking the involvement I was talking about before.

And that’s not good at all.

The Flatshare

 A British romcom lacking a bit of British humour

© Paramount Plus

I recently watched the miniseries “The Flatshare” on Paramount Plus, based on the novel with the same title by Beth O’Leary and composed of 6 episodes of approximately 45 minutes.

 

After watching “The Lovers”, about which I told you something some time ago, I threw myself into another British romantic comedy before moving on to something more challenging.

 

The basic idea from which the story starts is quite original: Tiffany and Leon, due to financial problems, are forced to share a small flat in London, but in such a way as to never meet. In fact, they share everything, including the bed, except that she can use all of this from 8pm to 8am and on weekends, while he is entitled to the time slot from 8am to 8pm (he spends the weekends at his girlfriend’s flat).

 

Tiffany works for a web magazine and has just broken up with her ex, Justin, with whom she had (and partly still has) a toxic relationship. Finding herself without a place to live and with little money, she accepted Leon’s offer.

He, on the other hand, works nights at a hospice and wants to put some money aside to try to get his brother out of prison.

 

The two have never seen each other, they do not know what each other looks like, they cannot meet or speak on the phone or via mobile phone messages, but they communicate exclusively through Post-its.

 

The idea is certainly intriguing, even if it is never made clear how they came to this agreement, given that they have never met!

 

The performance is at times hilarious, thanks also to the skill of the two main actors, Jessica Brown Findlay and Anthony Welsh, but throughout the watching, I had the impression that something was missing. Yes, because in a story set in London, there is very little trace of the British humour that would have benefited its narration so much.

 

Moreover, the supporting characters are barely mentioned, two-dimensional, which is inexplicable, given the length of the episodes and their not particularly fast pace.

 

The story is dotted here and there with various ideas, too many in fact: toxic relationships, legal problems, homosexual relationships, interracial relationships (practically all of them, except the toxic one), terminal illnesses, abandonment of the elderly and so on, but all of them are barely hinted at and often just thrown in there, almost as if, each time, one were checking a box. It would have been better to focus on a few and develop them better.

 

To this, let’s add some important twists in the economy of the story that are a bit predictable, while others are unexpected but not very convincing, such as, for example, hopeless situations that are inexplicably and suddenly resolved.

 

On the other hand, the curiosity to discover how the long-awaited happy ending will be achieved is kept alive through a continuous complication of events and by the cunning of the scriptwriters in interrupting the story always at the right moment at the end of each episode.

 

In short, it’s a fun series with some excellent strengths that at least partially manage to make us turn a blind eye to its many weaknesses.

I feel like recommending it to you.