Il re

Remind me never to commit a crime in Italy! The prisons, if this series is true to life, are grim places of horror. I don't think even Victorian prisons in England had these depths of depravity and sadism on the sides of both the inmates and guards.

Bruno Testori runs his prison in the way he knows will bring the results that he wants, namely peace and quiet as well as a little side income for the guards and inmates. Some of the grouped communities don't participate in this but are collaborating in different ways. The arrival of a subversive jihadist figure in the ranks of the Muslim group of the prison initiates the start of a breakdown of the system that has served the institution so well for many years.

Outside investigators are brought in to probe the events that are spiralling out of control but these enquiries make a bad situation worse. Bruno finally uncovers the truth in his own way in the teeth of opposition from the secret service and the investigating judge who finally take their revenge on him for what they see as his obstructionism.

I have to say that I was certain by the end of episode six of who the jihadist and his helper were and I was right. That didn't lessen the tension though as it was a slower process for the guards to work it out as they didn't have the advantages of the viewer.

I watched this within a 36 hour period as I was hooked. That is binge watching for me! The lives of the main characters outside of the prison didn't seem contrived, especially as they often meshed with events inside and aspects of them were used by or against various characters to try to ensure compliance with law or otherwise.

Luca Zingaretti played a completely different role to that which he is usually known for and was utterly convincing. I'm not surprised - as a wonderful character actor, he could slip into any persona. I do recommend this series.

My spouse and I watched two seasons of Il Re on MHZ (16 episodes) - tense and sensational only if you stick with Bruno through thick and thin. At the start, I wondered why Italian prisoners were allowed to wander around outside their cells and use cell phones - neither of which is ok in American prisons. Luca Zingaretti has much more to do as Il Re than he did as Inspector Montalbano - he is in command at all times, even when he seems stripped of power. I especially liked Sonya, the gritty female commander/mother figure. Il Re, though dark and ominous, is quite an entertainment upgrade from the long, drawn out Montalbano which I believe is overrated. I hope we'll see more of Il Re. Bravo!

It's a shame because they were able to build up an intiguing story which ended up in a trivial way... There are some exaggeration which costed of points in the final rating.

Unfortunately then, the typical Italian series where acting is not natural and smooth but quite lame, as well as the complexity of each chatacter. Bummer, it might have been much better...