psymart

I (American, 63) knew nothing of this story. In found it fascinating. It struck me, both as history and as documentary, as startling, moving, repellant, and well-made by turns. The contemporary footage-these people are rich and privileged, and they filmed their lives, it seems, regularly-is striking, as is the use the documentarians made of it. The interviews are also compelling. I like the digressions too; others may find them distracting. The music seemed pushy to me, but every minute of film and interview struck me as telling. It doesn't hurt that everyone is good-looking, tan, wealthy-and often around lovely beaches in Italy-France. And that everyone speaks three or four languages-and one hears Italian in three or four or five marked accents.

This is an amazing show-a tour de force of writing, acting, directing, filming, story-telling. The plotting is remarkable, in that it unfolds as it must have had to, but is surprising at every turn. It is a series fully aware of itself in the history of such movies as it mentions-Dirty Harry, Carlito's Way, even Matrix-but never derivatively. It's rammed with life, history, local and world culture. It's wicked and delightful all along, and every single performance, every line of dialogue and voiceover narration, hits home with the viewer and with the characters in the action. It's themes of poverty, the will of God, and the motives that animate the human condition suffuse every scene and shot and situation. Great too is the the use of language-Portuguese, Italian, English-and of the actors who move in and out of them as they work out their fates.

I just watched the first episode of this series, and paused before watching the second to read reviews and, now, to write this. I think the show is remarkable--for the script, the acting, and the pace of action and dialogue. The naturalness of the performances, all of them, struck me, as did the surprising shifts in rhythm, as so-called "storylines" are introduced. The nitty-gritty of politics in this moment of instant communication is represented in an almost thrilling way. So too are the tactics and strategies of political calculation. As another reviewer said, people and ideas and interactions are brought on so thick and fast that it's hard to adjust to-but that's just one of the things I found admirable about the direction and photography, not to mention the script. After watching a day in life of a main character, I was exhausted when she got home!