Mr. Robot

Reality is just a state of mind

Rami Malek and Chistian Slater in Mr. Robot

One of the series I belatedly caught up on is “Mr. Robot” (2015–2019).

I watched all four seasons back-to-back, and it was a truly emotional journey.

The main character is a hacker, Elliot Alderson, played by the very talented Rami Malek, who wants to destroy the “System” and rebuild it from scratch.

It may seem trivial when put like this, but in reality this series offers an extreme representation of the current world that is scary, precisely because we realise how much we really could be moving in that direction, and perhaps we already are.

This “System” is initially represented by E-Corp (renamed by the protagonist Evil Corp, which in reality corresponds to large corporations like Amazon or Google, but which in the story is so deeply embedded in every area of people’s lives (hardware, software, banking, electronic money … everything is managed or sold by this company) that it leaves no room for anything else. Added to this is the Dark Army, a group of “bad” hackers led by a certain Whiterose, but who in fact depend on another financial group that controls the entire world, E-Corp included.

Fighting against all this is our Elliot and his Fsociety.

The protagonist moves in this context, speaking directly to us (Hello, friend…), as if we were a silent presence in his head. And his head is a real mess!

Yes, because Elliot is an unreliable narrator. He suffers from split personality on such a profound level that he cannot remember much of his life and occasionally one of his mental alter egos takes control of him. What we see is what Elliot thinks he sees, not what actually happens.

And so, throughout the series, all these aspects of him are brought to light, leading to unexpected twists that completely change the perspective from which we observe the story.

All this is possible thanks to the masterful interpretation of Rami Malek, supported by an excellent Christian Slater, in the role of Mr. Robot, and by an exceptional DB Wong, who creates two versions of the same character in an absolutely credible way.

I quite enjoyed the first season, but I admit that the second season almost felt like it was dragging on at times. It suffers from having a transitional role. Things improve when the real events start to become clearer, compared to those imagined by Elliot, and this happens even more so in the third. But the fourth is really beautiful!

Apparently, the series’ creator, Sam Esmail, planned it from start to finish and decided to end it after the fourth season, not because he was forced to do so by an imminent cancellation, but because it had reached its conclusion.

This is noticeable in the way that clues to the revelations in the latest episodes are scattered throughout all the seasons. But maybe I should watch it again from the beginning to catch them all.

In the fourth season all the threads of the story are closed with a succession of events that flow at full speed and with a really high number of people killed.

I think the best part is the central one, where Elliot finally discovers something important about his past and at the same time carries out the final blow to the “System”.

The latest episodes, however, shed light on the final mystery of Elliot’s multiple personalities. Maybe they’re a bit weaker than the previous ones, but they close the circle perfectly.

Personally, I had grown so fond of that version of Elliot that I was a little sad about the final reveal (I can’t say what, because it would be a spoiler).

But there is a curiosity that I carry with me and that I fear will never be satisfied.

What exactly was Whiterose’s “machine”?

If you haven’t watched “Mr. Robot”, I recommend doing so in a relatively short space of time, so that you have every aspect of the story fresh in your mind and can piece together the threads of the plot without getting lost.

Rome

 Roman history seen from the eyes of two legionaries

 

Some time ago, I watched an old series on Sky, “Rome”, which includes two seasons and was broadcast between 2005 and 2007. It’s an HBO/BBC production and was filmed in Cinecittà.

The series tells the story of the last part of the Republican period, from the rise of Julius Caesar to that of Octavian. The well-known historical events, all too often shown in films, TV series and novels, are intertwined with the totally invented ones of two Roman legionaries.

We know well what happened to Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian. You don’t watch this series to learn history (also because it’s heavily fictionalised), but to have fun imagining it as closely connected to the lives of Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus.

In reality, the two soldiers did exist, but the little that is known about them makes it unlikely that their fates followed those of the above-mentioned historical figures. This gave the writers the freedom to imagine them very close to Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian, so much so that they were always present at their side in the most important historical moments.

I won’t go into details, as it’s fun to discover them while watching.

 

Moreover, the screenwriters repeatedly bent the real facts to make the plot more suitable and interesting for the viewers. And I’d say they succeeded. Even though I already knew how it would end, I remained glued to the screen the whole time, also thanks to the way in which the plot mixes dramatic elements with others that are much lighter and more ironic (in particular those linked to the character of Titus Pullo).

 

I also really appreciated the scenography and costumes. Some reconstructions, such as Caesar’s triumph, are wonderful.

I also really liked the way the politics of the time are shown and how its protagonists exploit elements of news dissemination (such as graffiti on the walls and announcements in the forum) to their advantage.

All in all, there is not much difference between the mechanisms of then and those of today from a conceptual point of view. Of course, what is different is that political enemies were simply killed. Nowadays, in most civilised countries, there is a tendency to use somewhat less direct methods (usually!).

 

Overall, I really enjoyed this series and I recommend it.

By the way, the end of the series partially overlaps, from a historical point of view, with the beginning of “Domina” (Sky Original series).

I think it’s interesting to see how the same characters, specifically Octavian and Livia, are represented in a completely different way in the two series, precisely because the objective of the narration is different.

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!

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.

Open — Andre Agassi

 Tennis and life, tennis is life

Photo taken by me

Reading this book, especially in the first chapters in which Agassi talks about his childhood, it doesn’t seem like a true story at all. It reads like one of those literary fiction novels whose protagonists live such strange lives that they can only have sprung from someone’s imagination.

A father so obsessed with tennis who forces all his children to practice and play until one of them becomes a champion? But what the hell is this?

It is true that sometimes reality is so incredible that it far surpasses fantasy.

Agassi’s story is interesting, beyond his particularly troubled youth and the great successes he had in his career (after all, he was one of the greatest tennis players in history). What makes it truly compelling is that it offers the reader, and especially the tennis fan like me, a window into the mind of a tennis player. In fact, we who love to watch this sport observe the players during their matches and suffer a little with them, but we have no idea what goes on in their minds. Not really. We can only make assumptions based on their actions, their looks, their body language. We hear and read their interviews, but even then, we don’t know what they are really thinking or whether it matches their words or not.

Being able to access such intimate aspects of Andre Agassi’s mind gives us an idea, even if only from a single point of view, of what we cannot see about our favourites, of what it must mean to find yourself alone on that court, facing an opponent and struggling with your own emotions, your concentration that tends to get lost, your body that sometimes betrays you, your hopes and disappointments.

At the end of the reading, not only has Agassi become almost a friend, as far as we have got to know him, but we feel a little closer and more aware of anyone who plays tennis at a high level, who does it for a living, who continually fights against the worst of opponents: themselves.

Regardless of how much one loves tennis, I think “Open” can be an engaging and informative read for anyone.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lovers

 A quick, sparkling, unpredictable romantic comedy

 

Sky Original (©)

One of the latest TV series I watched is “The Lovers”. This is a Sky Original romantic comedy consisting of six episodes of 30 minutes each, and it’s definitely sparkling!

The story is that of the self-centred Seamus, an English television presenter, but of Irish origins, who during the recording of a TV show in Belfast is targeted by a group of local youths who want to beat him up and, while fleeing, ends up in the courtyard of Janet, a depressed cashier who at that very moment is about to kill herself.
Between the two, who are the opposite of each other (he is self-centred and vain; she is depressed, cynical and has a strong black humour), something happens.
Only that he is engaged to a famous actress (played by the very talented Alice Eve) and she, well, is hiding something.

Their story unfolds in six quick, explosive episodes that, with a frenetic pace, an alternation of bizarre situations and continuous changes of direction, will amaze you, make you laugh out loud, but sometimes also make you think, and in the end will leave you with a pleasant sense of satisfaction.

The credit for all this goes to a screenplay that knows how to mix irony and romance, without exaggerating in either aspect, with brilliant dialogues in which the two protagonists, perfectly played by Johnny Flynn and Roisin Gallagher, confront each other in a frank, at times rude and above all unpredictable manner, thus revealing themselves to each other and to the audience.
It all takes place in a context where right and wrong are suspended, leaving room for the most raw and hilarious sincerity.

Absolutely worth watching!

Challengers

 A love triangle in the world of tennis

A picture from the film

“Challengers” is a film by Luca Guadagnino (April 2024).

How beautiful!

Finally, a bit of cinema with a capital C, in which the tools of the seventh art are used to their fullest to tell a story conceived and developed for the big screen.

What makes it beautiful is not only the story itself (which is well-crafted anyway), but the way it is shown to the audience one piece at a time with a series of flashbacks cleverly inserted during the course of a tennis match.
The protagonists of the love triangle reveal, scene after scene, their nature and that of the relationship binding them, through effective dialogues, small details, a soundtrack that is nothing short of perfect and a sensational editing.

And then there are some crazy gems, like towards the end, when the camera’s point of view changes to that of one of the players and then the other, ends up under the court, as if its surface were made of glass, and at a certain point switches to that of the tennis ball.

In short, whether you like tennis or not, I recommend it, but if you love and follow tennis, you can’t miss it.
Even if the film is not about tennis, which is only the context in which the love triangle is narrated, if you know a little about this sport and its protagonists of the present and the past, you won’t miss those elements of reality (facts and people) that have inspired some aspects of the story and, above all, of the characters.

Enjoy!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

 Say it once, say it twice, say it … no!

The characters of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”

I saw “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and it’s been a long time since I had this much fun at the cinema!

I’ll start from the premise that I’m a fan of Tim Burton and I love “Beetlejuice”, which is without a doubt the film I’ve watched the most times ever. There was a period in the 90s when I knew practically all the lines of the Italian version by heart, but only when I bought the DVD in the 2000s and watched it in the original language, was I able to fully understand its brilliance.
But, precisely because I love this film, on the one hand, I was happy for the sequel and, on the other, I feared that it could disappoint me, after more than 30 years of waiting (the film is from 1988, but I watched it for the first time in the early 90s).

Fortunately, this was an unfounded fear.

To prepare myself properly, a few hours before going to the cinema I rewatched “Beetlejuice”, also because maybe 15 years had passed since the last time, and it is something I recommend to anyone who intends to see the sequel. If you have never seen the first one, you have to watch it, because there are too many connections and it’s assumed that the viewer knows them. But, even if you have seen it, it’s not a bad idea to renew that memory a little.
I have to say that as I watched it again I remembered everything, but fixing the visual aspect of the film in my memory was essential to enjoying watching the sequel.

In fact, less than an hour and a half after finishing watching, I was on my reclining seat at the cinema and the screening started. The impression I had was of total continuity between the two works, starting from the screen with the Geffen logo and the font used for the opening titles that scrolled over the landscape of Winter River, while the unmistakable soundtrack by Danny Elfman was played.
Next to greet the viewer is Winona Ryder, who 36 years later reprises the character of Lydia Deetz. And it’s her, Lydia. It’s as if it always has been. She just grew up, as I have, after all.
Another thing I feared was that I would be overwhelmed by a bittersweet sense of nostalgia for a time that belonged to a teenage me that no longer exists, but that wasn’t the case at all.
I felt at home, because that particular part of me still exists, and I was happy to know what had happened to Lydia and the other characters in all this time, as well as to follow them in this new adventure.

What about Michael Keaton?
Thanks to the heavy makeup it is almost impossible to notice the difference between how he was in the 80s and how he is now, and this adds a touch of “realism” to the whole thing (the quotation marks are a must!).

I can’t tell you anything about the story, absolutely nothing, because it’s nice to see it like this. All in all, the trailer only reveals the characters involved, but not how they move through the story.
I can only tell you that I remained glued to the screen the whole time, forgetting who I was and where I was, just like I used to do when I went to the cinema in the 90s, and that I laughed really hard for most of the 105 minutes of the film.
And even more so in the last quarter of an hour, including the sparkling epilogue (but is the story really over?).

I’m perfectly aware that in this first viewing I only grasped a minimal part of all the details that this film is full of. With “Beetlejuice” every time I rewatched it, even after the fortieth time, I always found something that I had missed. I expect the same to happen with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and I can’t wait to get my hands on the Blu-ray.
Hopefully, it comes out soon, as do I hope they release a CD version of the soundtrack to add it to my collection.

I conclude by saying that I am really happy to notice that cinema, the real one, still exists thanks to explosive and crazy minds like Tim Burton’s.
Long live cinema, long live Tim Burton, and long live Beetlejuice!

But don’t say it three times, okay?
Or maybe yes?

Deutschland 83, Deutschland 86 and Deutschland 89

History, drama, and irony in a very entertaining German series

The main characters of “Deutschland 89” (© Sky Original 2020)

The “Deutschland” trilogy (whose three seasons are respectively titled “Deutschland 83”, “Deutschland 86” and “Deutschland 89”) is a Sky Original series that narrates the story of the final phase of the GDR, East Germany, up until the fall of the Berlin Wall.

This is a spy series in which fiction is grafted onto true history.
The protagonist is the young Martin Rauch (played by the very talented Jonas Nay), who has unwillingly become a spy for the HVA (a branch of the Stasi) and who over time will become very good at his job.
In the first season, he is forced to infiltrate the West, where he finds himself involved in a series of dramatic situations and somersaults, but somehow ends up getting out of it.

His story continues three years later in Africa, where, if possible, he manages to complicate his existence even more.
Then comes 1989, which marks the final chapter of his country and will lead to the reunification of Germany. And he is there when the Wall falls.

The historical reconstruction is very accurate in settings, costumes, and even music. The theme song for the series is “Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Peter Schilling, which, if you are old enough, you will recognize immediately.

The subject may seem serious and dramatic, and obviously it is, but the often ironic slant with which this series has been developed, starting from the characters up to the extreme situations they find themselves in, gives it an extra edge that forces you to stay glued to the screen, keeping you in suspense and releasing that tension every now and then with a good laugh.

Besides being entertaining, watching this series is also a good opportunity to brush up on or learn something about recent history, but also to reflect on the parallels with the present, since time passes and ever-different events take place, yet certain mechanisms tend to inexorably repeat themselves.

I’ve watched this series over the years and that’s inevitably meant that I’ve missed some of the details that connect the seasons, especially since it features a number of intertwined stories involving so many different characters (and a lot of names!). For this reason, I recommend you watch it all in a short time.
The trilogy of “Deutschland 83”, “Deutschland 86” and “Deutschland 89” is available on demand on Sky and Now.

Enjoy!

Trap

 In the shoes of a serial killer

In August, I saw “Trap” at the cinema, the new film by M. Night Shyamalan, with Josh Hartnett in the leading role.

Cooper takes his teenage daughter to a concert of a pop star, Lady Raven (played by Saleka, American singer and daughter of the director), like many other parents, but once there he notices that something weird. There is an excessive deployment of police forces at the concert venue.
The problem is that Cooper is not a parent like the others: he is “the butcher”, a serial killer.

The first hour of the film is truly exceptional. Even though the trailer had already spoiled the core element of the story (Cooper’s identity), the way it is shown to the viewer is masterful.
Things get a little more difficult in the second part of the film, but overall it’s a great thriller, which kept me glued to the screen for its entire duration (also thanks to the lack of a break between the first and second half).

I can’t tell you much about how the story develops since the fun is in discovering it at the moment, but I can tell you what I liked most and least.

Josh Hartnett’s performance is definitely fantastic. The way he goes from caring father to monster with one look is chilling.
The great thing is that, despite his identity as a serial killer being revealed, in the eyes of the viewer he remains the protagonist, the hero of the story (clearly an anti-hero), while the police force together with the profiler who leads them take on the role of the bad guys. We want him to escape, also because his misdeeds are barely hinted at, without showing anything that would make us truly hate him.
Overall the story is well told through the images, in the way the scenes are edited and in the framing choices, all surrounded by the music of Lady Raven/Saleka.

There are, however, some things that work less well.

For starters, the motivation that drives the police to try to locate a man whose face they don’t know at a concert where there are approximately 3000 other men is weak (a piece of a receipt). In reality, it would have taken far too long to try to verify whether each of them was the person they were looking for. Furthermore, there was the not at all unlikely risk that he was not there at all (what if it was his wife, or someone else, who accompanied his daughter to the concert?).

Moreover, during the course of the film, there are several stretches. For example, Cooper is too easily able to make friends with people who work there and who unwittingly help him. On the other hand, however, those who give him a hard time, creating a twist, could do something simpler and less risky, but which would not allow the tension of the film to be maintained as high.

Finally, I was a little disappointed by the final twist. When I go to see a film by Shyamalan I expect a super twist at the end that shatters any previous expectations. There are several interesting twists in the movie and there is one twist at the end that should be more powerful than the others, but actually it doesn’t work at all. It’s too explained by the character who caused it and, honestly, the explanation and its consequences are too far-fetched. And moreover, there is a certain déjà-vu in it.

To be honest, I had developed an even more shocking theory in my mind and I was a little disappointed to see that the director didn’t want to go that far in characterising the protagonist. Cooper is the classic serial killer with a difficult childhood about which, however, nothing really specific is said and the lack of a real character development (the protagonist!), which would have increased the dramatic aspect of the story, is especially evident right in the final stages of the film.

The only positive note is the open ending, even if only hinted at, almost as if Shyamalan did not want to take full responsibility for leaving a little door open on the fate of a serial killer.
What a pity.

Anyway, I enjoyed it and I feel like recommending you to watch or see it, possibly on a big screen, just to enjoy the maximum possible involvement.

Enjoy!

Lola

A fascinating science fiction mockumentary

The protagonists of “Lola”

The film “Lola” is a science fiction mockumentary, that is, a fake documentary, based on the discovery of a mysterious film relating to an alternative past.

The protagonists are two sisters, Tomasina and Martha, who in 1938 inherit from their father a device (called Lola, like their mother) capable of capturing radio and television broadcasts from the future. Initially, they use it for fun, but then they think it could be useful to provide information to their homeland after the outbreak of World War II. 
The problem is that by doing so, they will end up changing that future with catastrophic consequences.

I won’t tell you more. The film itself is very short, just 75 minutes, but I assure you that it is a real gem, both as an idea and as how it was structured.
At first, it can be a bit alienating to follow the story with all this black and white, partly damaged footage, but then you get used to it. And you are fascinated by the way fiction footage is mixed with real footage from the period.

It is not simply an uchronic story, since there’s also the use of temporal paradoxes, which we usually see in stories where time travel takes place. But here, it isn’t people who travel, rather radio and television broadcasts.

Enjoy!

Then You Run

A British-German series halfway between an on-the-road thriller and a black comedy

“Then You Run” is a 2023 Sky Original series with a British-German production.

It seems like a miniseries since it has 8 episodes and is based on a novel (“You” by Zoran Drvenkar).

 

The protagonist, Tara, who lost her mother when she was just a kid, following the death of her grandmother, must move to Rotterdam to live with her father. Three of her friends and schoolmates (they are teenagers) leave for a short holiday in the Netherlands as guests at her home, but the situation quickly worsens. Upon their arrival, Tara does not answer her phone and, when they finally reach her villa, they make a macabre discovery.

Hunted by a gang of drug dealers, the four girls are forced to flee from Rotterdam to Germany and then to Norway.

To make matters worse, during their escape, they are involved in the death of someone very close to a serial killer.

 

This series is a cross between an on-the-road thriller and a black comedy.

The protagonists find themselves in the most absurd and, at times, truly ridiculous situations and, as the corpses pile up, they emerge increasingly embittered and anaesthetised to violence.

 

Once you approach the vision with a clear idea of what kind of story it is, you will enjoy the continuous twists that are completely unexpected.

The extreme nature of the violence, of the language and of the wickedness of the characters, such that they must be at least a little bad if they don't want to die badly and that those who kill innocents can easily get away with it, make it a decidedly European work and one that we could never have found among American TV products.

 

What can I say? I enjoyed watching it and remained glued to the screen until the last minute, as I had no idea what would happen in the next minute.

 

If you like the genre, I wish you a good watching!

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

A film about revenge and redemption

“In the Land of Saints and Sinners” is a film by Robert Lorenz and starring Liam Neeson.

Set in 1974 during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, it follows the story of Finbar Murphy, a widower who leads a quiet existence in a coastal town, between drinks in the local pub, shooting competitions with his policeman friend (Ciarán Hinds) and chats with his neighbour. 

But Finbar is actually a hired killer who has had enough of this job and wants to retire. However, he will have to postpone his intention due to the arrival in the city of a group of IRA terrorists who have just committed an attack in Belfast, in which, by mistake, some children also died.
In fact, it combines a careful look at a very particular historical period, the evocative settings of the Emerald Isle and the element of action and violence linked to the theme of terrorism and the figure of the protagonist as an avenger.
The whole thing is so well measured that the result is a pleasant work that is not at all obvious in its development and conclusion.

We are used to seeing Neeson in action stories where revenge is involved, and this is probably the reason why the title “L’ultima vendetta” (The Last Revenge) was chosen in Italia (my country). “In the Land of Saints and Sinners” instead conveys much better the dramatic soul of the story and the desire for redemption with which it is impregnated. 

The result is just under two hours of great cinema, which pass in the blink of an eye as we follow the adventures of a group of flawed characters, all of them however well-constructed and credible, through a story that, once concluded, leaves the viewer with a bittersweet sense of satisfaction.

Really beautiful!

I recommend it to you.