Merlí

At first when i accidentally saw a thumbnail in a video sharing website about two young-good-looking boys looking at each other (probably in love) i thought it's going to be a soap opera cliché contained young gay story who are closeted, with its typical conflicts. I was wrong. Merlí is a 'rich' soap opera, whenever i watch the episodes it feels like i'm taking a class, studying Philosophy, and it is actually teach us about it indeed. Almost everything about this series is super, the directing, the acting, the soundtracks, plot, you name it. I really hope they will be released officially with English subtitle, but you may not be worried if you understand Spanish or Catalan because you can watch them in TV3's website. In summary, Merlí is a classy soap opera which highly recommended to watch. Salutació!

One of my favorite television shows. Recently, I've been getting into shows from foreign countries. I happened to come upon this on Netflix after watching "Elite" and binged the first season in a weekend.

Merli is philosophy teacher who moves in with his mother and comes to teach at his son's school. There he builds unforgettable connections with the students as well as their parents and staff, beginning to help mend the broken lives and relationships that surround him. He isn't without his faults though; he's brash, brutally honest and a bit of a playboy. And he learns that sometimes just meaning well isn't enough.

This show is full of heartbreaking moments and moments that'll fill you with joy. Unfortunately Netflix only offers the first season and the last two seasons are hard to find on the internet but don't let this dissuade you. This is definitely something to watch if you're in the mood for a feel good show that teaches lessons of life and philosophy. Don't let the subtitles dissuade you either; if you're not a fan of foreign shows, you might miss out on this gem, which would be a travesty in many ways. Merli is worth the watch because it's the sort of show that will resonate it your heart long after you've finished it. Don't miss out on it!

For such a gem to exists, one expects this quality from the powers of Hollywood or European origins. But for this to come out of a region in the corner of Europe and from dialectical language, not per se a primary color like English, French or Italian is truly fantastic. Its a beautiful language. I found myself glued to the screen. As a well read and also written author in an architectural genre, I am unfortunately not bi lingual, like many Americans. Catalonian culture brings for me the richness of Antonio Gaudi and art nouveau, but a great connection to the arts. The episodes in this series are named after famous philosophers from history but the plots and character development are well thought out. There-in lives a synonymity of philosophizing, the explanations of each icon like Plato and Aristotle, flowing together. Their theories of life meld with complex character development in a low budget production that doesn't feel that way at all or isn't made obvious. Each character seems to be as developed as the TOS Star Trek characters of Roddenberry. The symbolism of the Owl that appears in each episode speaks words of wisdom at the right time in the flow of the themes imagery and music. But the messages about acceptance and the balance of a carefree liberal approach to life compared to the staunch conservative values and boundaries illuminates the important things in life, our own universal loneliness and how each individual is important to the other. It shows us our strengths and weaknesses and how to recognize each. This is very well done. As an architect, photographer painter and author, I think this series promotes art as holistic and a necessary presence to balance the technical qualities of our everyday life. Form follows function and this show dares to mix the sacred with the profane with much tact and subtle nuance. Bravo Peter Lagomarsino, Satellite Beach FL USA

I'd bet that if a commensurate TV series like Merli (Merlin) was in a more familiar European language or an American TV series, it would be a huge hit. It is in Catalan, a language spoken by about 10,000,000 people, most in Barcelona and its surrounding area. The concept is ingenious, but there are lots of ingenious concepts. What makes this a great show is that the realization of the concept is wonderful. Don't take my word for it. The series has already been optioned in the U.S., France, and other countries. A non-conforming high school philosophy teacher (philosophy in high school?) brings classroom learning to life, but also becomes a central agent of change in the lives of his students, their parents, and the other teachers. Life changing is not always positive. Merli is not a do-gooder. He is clever, deceptive, even desperate at times, but he knows who he is, and knows how the world works. The entire cast is terrific. The scripts are so smoothly written that the actors seems to just ease into the action. There is rarely a wrong note in the series. It's nothing like American TV shows about high school students that portray them as brats or goof balls or stereotypes. It's available with English subtitles. If you know a Romance language, you will probably catch some of the dialogue. Catalan seems a mix of Spanish, French and Italian. I am waiting for season two to be available. I binge watched the first season in four days.

No reviews to date? Seriously? One supposes that is mainly because it speaks a language (Catalán) with which relatively few Europeans or Americans are familiar. Yet it appears regularly on YouTube with Spanish and even on occasion badly translated English subtitles. No excuses, however. A splendidly scripted, acted, and filmed TV series like this deserves better attention.

The narrative centers on a teacher and his philosophy class in a contemporary Barcelona high school. Each episode follows the teacher's life both at home and in the context of how he interacts with a specific set of acquaintances drawn from that milieu. No punches are pulled where the tone and depth of such relationships are concerned; fine and coarse language intermingle freely, as do sexual tensions involving all the characters.

But the most surprising aspect to me is how thoroughly expert and technically adept an obviously low budget film from a region lying at the northern extremity of its EU country succeeds in every way at generating a first-class production. I like everything about it: the musical track, the use of lighting, the camera work, and the direction. It is equally startling to discover in a minor TV series actors of all ages and kinds delivering top performances. Any language barrier fades away, almost as if it were a silent film with subtitles barely visible.

Now in its second season, this one should be a "must see" for the avid film fan.