Television series established a new aesthetic in the third millennium, although in a certain sense we can say that they have always existed, starting with the serial televised films broadcast on early television.
While contemporary phenomenon does not have a specific start date, it goes without saying that Twin Peaks , which aired in the United States on ABC from 1990 to 1991, began a new trend. David Lynch created a revolutionary, difficult, dream-like and sometimes incomprehensible series that was extraordinarily visual and combined auteur cinema with the genre film. The situation of television today is quite different, in a world where the sheer range of series
is overflowing and overabundant and they can be seen on multiple supports.
But just as commercial television did not throw the seventh art into crisis, in the case of series we can talk once again about genetically modified cinema, in an increasingly close dialogue between languages. And so why organise an exhibition about television series at the National Museum of Cinema? Because this new way of creating images engages with the social fabric of our time, dialoguing with the contemporary aesthetic, and the visual arts in particular. This exhibition looks at a selection of twelve series, each one representative of a genre, chosen from among countless
possibilities. The selected shows are among the ones most fit to be told, that can best stand up ‘off screen’ and become three-dimensional, creating new, sometimes unexpected connections. They are not necessarily the top twelve series, but each one changed the way stories are told on television. They are also intergenerational, drawing not just one demographic but reaching across age groups and cultural differences. Serialmania is a widespread phenomenon, from precursors like Friends and ER to recent series like Squid Game and The Sea Beyond . In the exhibition, references to art are scattered among the frames and sequences. Gregory
Crewdson’s photographs of American suburbia seem to be citations of Twin Peaks . Mario Schifano is a kind of antihero straight out of the 1970s Rome of Romanzo criminale.
Alejandro Cartagena’s Car Poolers urgently evoke the mishaps of Breaking Bad. And then there are the explicit citations. To take just one example, the directors and scriptwriters of Squid Game have used a work by Escher from the 1950s as a specific visual source for illustrating the distress of the dystopian future.
Twin Peaks
USA, 1990-1991
Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost
Genre Detective, Mystery, Fantasy
2 Seasons, 30 Episodes (running time 45’-50’)
On 8 April 1990, Twin Peaks premiered on the American television network ABC. ‘Who killed Laura Palmer?’ is the question behind the investigation into the mysterious murder of a seventeen-years-old girl, the perpetrator of which is hiding within a small mountain community. It was the first time that a
film director had worked on a television series. David Lynch, also a painter and photographer, was already famous for directing The Elephant Man (1980), the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986).
Accompanied by the book The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer written by the director’s daughter Jennifer Lynch, which was followed in 1992 by the film Fire Walk with Me (imagined as a prequel to the series), Twin Peaks defined the canons of series storytelling, transforming the setting of a classic thriller into a supernatural cult.
Even in Italy, where it was broadcast on Canale 5 in January 1991, Twin Peaks became a media phenomenon that gained the following of a huge number of fans, giving rise to fandoms,
groups of enthusiasts who developed theories by obsessively rewatching episodes recorded on VHS.
Built on a framework of impending terror and continuous cliffhangers, the series anticipated the features of many successful formats: the editing, photography and diegetic use of Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack becoming an integral part of the story. The story is set in 1989 in an imaginary mountain town in Washington State on the border with Canada. One morning, the body of a high school girl is found, wrapped in plastic. The victim is Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), daughter of lawyer Leland Palmer (Ray Wise). The FBI entrusts the case to Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) who, with his very personal method of investigation based on lining up
coincidences, will discover that nothing is as it seems.
Consistent with the director’s output, Twin Peaks cannot be placed within a precise genre. The eerie, surreal and grotesque atmosphere is at times reminiscent of horror cinema, but the campy features – deliberate use of kitsch in clothing and attitudes – and melodramatic portraits of bizarre characters have also been interpreted as a parody of 1980s soap operas. Besides offering an image world spanning several generations (the third season was released twenty-five years after the second, in 2017, and broadcast in Italy on Sky Atlantic), Twin Peaks is an experimental show that influenced later series such as X-Files (1993-2018), Lost (2004-2010), Black Mirror (2011in production) and True Detective
(2014-in production) and became a source of fascination for visual artists. For example, in the work Ciocco (1993), Thorsten Kirchhoff pays homage to the series by painting Laura Palmer’s face on a block of wood similar to the one the Log Lady held in her monologues. And Gregory Crewdson uses photographs to depict the life, landscapes and atmosphere of provincial America, which seems to evoke the dark, smoky aesthetics of Lynch’s cinema.
Friends
USA, 1994-2004
Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman
Genre Sitcom
10 Seasons, 236 Episodes (running time 20’)
First developed with the working title Insomnia Café and aired in 1994 on the NBC television network for ten seasons (broadcast in Italy by Rai starting in 1997), Friends revolves around the lives of a group of six friends in Manhattan, in their twenties at the beginning of the sitcom, in their thirties at the end: Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) a spoilt rich girl who left her fiancé at the altar; Monica Geller (Courteney
Cox) a young chef and a control freak full of neuroses and obsessions; Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) a scatter-brained and outgoing orphan who works as a masseuse and is a musician in her spare time; Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) a good-looking guy of Italian descent, an aspiring actor and tireless playboy; Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Joey’s roommate, an accounting analyst, precise, ironic, quick-witted; Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), paleontologist, Monica’s brother, divorced and in love with Rachel.
Friends is set in New York City, in the Village. The locations are the apartments where the main characters live (although it is not clear how they can afford a panoramic view of Manhattan and a chic decor, given that they mostly work underpaid or parttime jobs) and above all the now
iconic Central Perk coffee shop. They are lovable, with no alcohol or drug problems. The cast is all-white (which has raised some criticism in retrospect), but the sitcom tackles several sensitive issues such as social inclusion, same-sex marriage and surrogacy well ahead of its time. The episodes revolve around the tragicomic adventures and daily problems of the six friends (such as Joey’s unsuccessful auditions, Chandler’s sentimental affairs or Phoebe’s bizarre family situations), including work, sex, feelings, opportunities, bad days, anxieties, failures, successes, hilarious gags and fast-paced jokes. By appealing to the viewers’ desire to be just like one of those ‘types’ and playing on the irresistible myth of eternal adolescence, the series was a resounding success.
Over the years, Friends became an international phenomenon, and the six actors achieved stardom, earning a million dollars per episode, compared to 20,000 in the early days. The final episode, broadcast on 6 May 2004, reached around 52.5 million viewers: the most-watched series episode of the decade, as cited in Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind (2023).
A special episode entitled Friends: The Reunion aired on 27 May 2021 on HBO Max and simultaneously in Italy on the Sky and Now platforms.
The death of Matthew Perry in Los Angeles on 28 October 2023 moved fans of the series, becoming a media case for weeks.
Sex and the City
USA, 1998-2004
Created by Darren Star
Genre Romantic Comedy
6 Seasons, 94 Episodes (running time 30’)
Based on the novel of the same name by writer Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City premiered on American cable TV channel HBO on 6 June 1998 (it was broadcast in Italy in 2000 on Tele+’s Canal Jimmy). These were the years of The Sopranos (19992007) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), an era in
which the television series genre was changing face, exploring new themes and narrative styles considered untouchable until then.
In the heyday of chick lit, a type of romance novel aimed at young, career-minded women, Darren Star focuses on a daring and provocative tale of the female universe. From orgasms to promiscuity, from masturbation to abortion, from explicit language to abundant nude scenes, Sex and the City finally brings to the stage the change in social and economic status achieved by women in the 1990s, challenging rules, conventions and taboos.
Set against the backdrop of a frenetic and vibrant New York City, the series follows the adventures of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) – a columnist for the fictional New York Star newspaper and
sometimes the narrator – and her three friends, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon).
Emancipated and glamorous women who juggle Sunday brunches and amorous intrigues, chasing taxis – and dreams – on vertiginous stiletto heels.
Winner of 7 Emmy Awards and 8 Golden Globes, the series revealed its key features right from the pilot episode: friendship, a privileged vehicle for selfanalysis and sharing experiences; the beating heart of Manhattan as the fifth main character; fashion, with the iconic looks created by costume designer Patricia Field that have brought brands such as Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo to the fore; fun, casual sex, and lastly, a fast-paced, unbridled script.
The Sex and the City universe has spanned 6 seasons, 94 episodes, 2 feature-length films (Sex and the City, 2008 and Sex and the City 2, 2010), a prequel (The Carrie Diaries, 2013-2014) and a revival series (And Just Like That, 2021), influencing many successful television shows such as Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), Gossip Girl (2007-2012) and Orange Is the New Black (2013-2019).
The Simpsons
USA, 1989-in production
Created by Matt Groening
Genre Animation
35 Seasons, 767 Episodes (running time 20’)
First aired on 17 December 1989 on FOX (in Italy on 1 October 1991 on Channel 5), with 35 seasons and over 700 episodes, The Simpsons is the longestrunning animated series ever produced in the United States and one of the longest running in the world.
Cartoonist Matt Groening began developing it in 1987, a series
of 30 seconds short films for the comedy program The Tracey Ullman Show, taking inspiration from his family and the Portland suburbs where he grew up. It chronicles the tragicomic adventures of Homer, the lazy and seemingly insensitive breadwinner who spends his life stuffing his face with doughnuts and drinking cheap beer; Marge, the loving, rational and ever helpful wife; Bart, the rebellious, skateboard and tv loving, firstborn; Lisa, the model student with a passion for the saxophone; and finally, Maggie, a newborn with a dummy who still doesn’t speak. The series is set in the fictional town of Springfield, where the politicians are corrupt, the police incompetent, the media subservient to power and the economy revolves around the nuclear power plant owned by the
despicable Montgomery Burns. The picture drawn by The Simpsons seems bleak and hopeless, however, the realism that shines through the biting humour of the characters manages to reach a huge audience.
The global success of the series –which has spawned unprecedented merchandising, a feature film for the cinema (The Simpsons - The Movie, 2007) and a book (The Simpsons and Philosophy, William Irwin, 2001) – can be explained by its ability to engage both children, with gags and catchphrases such as Homer’s ‘D’oh!’ and Bart’s ‘Eat my shorts!’, as well as adults, embodying the rejection of politics, religion and the school system, and offering a sharp and cutting parody of society, albeit an indifferentist one.
The sophistication of the language
emerges in the repertoire of film quotations and references to genre television productions. Among many examples, the episode in which an alien invasion, with sequences inspired by Steven Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind , is the pretext for a sarcastic critique of the occupation of Iraq.
The adventures of the wacky Springfield family do not lack nobility of content. The events are never just a series of comic sketches for their own sake; the intent is to point out the American way of life based on grim, capricious consumerism. Homer represents the clueless everyman, attracted to shopping malls and fast-food outlets, while Lisa, with her environmentalist sensibility, is the emblem of the responsible person who chooses her purchases
according to ethical and naturefriendly criteria.
With a characterization so close to the real world, the authors construct a caricatured and prophetic representation of contemporaneity. Indeed, there are several scenes from The Simpsons that have anticipated real events, such as the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, the Deepwater Horizon oil tanker disaster or the spread of the Ebola virus.
ER
USA, 1994-2009
Created by Michael Crichton
Genre Medical
15 Seasons, 331 Episodes
(running time 45’)
The series is set in the Emergency Room of a fictitious university polyclinic in Chicago, the County General Hospital, and recounts the working days of doctors and nurses, amidst surgeries and illnesses.
ER was conceived by Michael Crichton based on a number of short stories that he published in 1970 under the title Five Patients, written after leaving medicine and drawn from his experience as a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk
Institute for Biological Studies in California.
The idea for ER was originally intended for the big screen. In 1990, Crichton presented the project to Steven Spielberg, who decided to instead produce it as a TV series with his company Amblin Entertainment. It debuted on NBC on 19 September 1994 (arrived in Italy on Rai2 in January 1996). ER is a milestone of the medical genre, a fundamental element in the history of generalist series. The pilot (entitled 24 Hours) set the standard for the presentation of the characters, the originality of the setting, the perfect balance in the rhythm that alternates light events with intense emotional drama. Praised for its accuracy in describing and dealing with complex clinical cases, the precision of its medical terminology and its ability to
develop ensemble and multi-thread dramatic stories, with dozens of characters and narrative arcs that develop over the seasons, ER was immediately a huge public success (some episodes reached peaks of 47 million viewers) and enjoyed wide critical acclaim (23 Emmy Awards). It also popularized the genre of the hospital drama, hitherto unexplored in the world of television series, giving rise to a successful genre in the ensuing years: Dr. House (2004-2012); Scrubs (2001-2010); Grey’s Anatomy (2005-2024); Chicago Med (2005-in production); Nip/Tuck (2003-2010); The Good Doctor (2017-2024) …
The impact of ER on the American imagination was such that in the first years it was aired, medical school enrolments tripled across the United States. The character in the white coat became a constant presence in the
television universe and some of the actors from the series, including George Clooney and Julianna Margulies, soon made it to the movies and worldwide fame. With its mixture of drama and hope, raw and sentimental stories, professional lives and private lives (engagements, divorces, attempted suicides), ER still stands out today for its realism, ease of identification with the characters, innovative use of interior spaces and camera movements that feverishly follow the excitement of the doctors at work in the emergency room.
In 1994, Quentin Tarantino masterfully directed the 24° episode of the first season entitled Motherhood, with an opening oneshot sequence that has become iconic.
House of Cards
USA, 2013-2018
Created by Beau Willimon
Genre Political, Spy Thriller
6 Seasons, 73 Episodes
(running time 45’)
The series is an adaptation of the homonymous television miniseries aired on the BBC in four episodes in 1990, based on the novel House of Cards published in 1989 and written by Michael Dobbs, Margaret Thatcher’s former chief of staff. In Italy, it has been airing on Sky Atlantic since April 2014.
Set in Washington in the aughts,
House of Cards revolves around the character of Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), an unscrupulous, cunning and greedy politician. He is a Democratic congressman and Majority Whip in the first season, Vice President of the United States in the second (where, after being robbed of the Secretary of State post that the new president had promised him, he is determined to use any means to get rid of anyone who stands in the way of his climb to the pinnacle of power) and, finally, 46° President of the United States from the third to the fifth season. He is joined by three key characters: his wife Claire (Robin Wright), a multifaceted woman who is very good at concealing her emotions; his right-hand-man Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly); and the young journalist Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) who helps Frank by searching for
the skeletons in the closet of his opponents. Exploiting the meta-narrative device whereby Frank Underwood breaks the ‘fourth wall’ and speaks directly to the audience, making them aware of his plans, the series is a cynical and merciless reflection on the art of leadership, manipulation, betrayal and power, and stages a kind of politics that is in some ways opposite to what the public expects. The logo –an upside-down American flag – already says it all. It quickly became a cult show (even Barack Obama was among its fans), adored by those who know a thing or two about politics (the Washington Post once called it ‘the worst show about American politics. Ever’, but that was by no means a criticism), hugely popular (it was the first Netflix original series to be distributed
worldwide), full of Shakespearean quotes (Frank Underwood has been called a post-modern Richard III) and now-famous catch phrases (‘Democracy is so overrated’, ‘Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location’, ‘I love that woman. I love her more than sharks love blood’), House of Cards has captured the spirit of the new times in politics, not only American, made of psychological blackmail, seduction, fake news, lobbying influences, thirst for power. As the main character observes: ‘There is but one rule: hunt or be hunted’. In 2017, Netflix first announced that the sixth season would be the last one and then it fired Kevin Spacey and made the final season without him.
Political backstories are an irresistible draw for audiences, as
the success of so many subsequent series prove, such as the Norwegian Occupied (2015-2020), the French Marseille (2016), the Chinese In the Name of the People (2017), the English Bodyguard (2018), the Argentinian The Kingdom (2021).
Let’s start with the title. What does the expression ‘breaking bad’ exactly mean? For the creator of the series, Vince Gilligan, it is an expression typical of his home state, Virginia, meaning ‘raising hell’. For others, it is a colloquial formula meaning ‘go astray’. According to still others, it is a phrase used in a similar way to the Italian slang ‘to create
trouble, to lose it’ and refers to the protagonist’s descent into hell. What is certain is that, in its ‘deviation’ from the kind of storytelling audiences were used to, Breaking Bad is unanimously considered one of the best series of all time. It is also one of the most award-winning ever (16 Emmy Awards, 8 Satellite Awards, 2 Golden Globes) and one of the most influential and innovative ever made. It was broadcast on the American cable channel AMC from January 2008 to September 2013 (in Italy it was first aired on the satellite channel AXN between 2008 and 2013, and unencrypted on Rai4 between 2010 and 2014), Breaking Bad follows the story of Walter White, an underpaid high school chemistry teacher who lives with his pregnant wife and son, who suffers from cerebral
palsy. He has great financial difficulties and a life devoid of satisfaction.
The day after his 50th birthday he is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and everything seems to be falling apart. But after meeting a former student of his who is a drug dealer, White decides to exploit his chemical knowledge and prepare crystal methamphetamine with him, with the aim of making enough money to guarantee his family’s financial security after his death. And so, he establishes himself in the drug market.
The story is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a place until then little represented on the small screen, with desert landscapes, dusty streets and pastelcoloured houses, between Mexican territory and the rich American metropolises. A route traversed by pickups transporting day labourers
and gardeners to the villas in the hills of Los Angeles immortalized by a famous series entitled The Car Poolers by Mexican photographer Alejandro Cartagena, between intimacy and alienation. There are many elements that have determined the success of Breaking Bad: the high quality of the writing, with a perfect plot and surprising narrative twists, the extraordinary performances of all the actors in the cast, starting with Bryan Cranston, who offers one of the most memorable performances in the history of television in the role of Walter White, capable of an exceptional range of emotions that lead the viewer to empathize with him. While most crime dramas focus on the good-bad duality, Breaking Bad delves into more nuanced territory, showcasing the transformation of a mild, ordinary
man into a ruthless criminal.
In October 2019, El Camino - A Breaking Bad Movie was released in cinemas, focusing on the coprotagonist Jesse Pinkman.
The Crown
USA, 2016-2023
Created by Peter Morgan Genre Historical, Biopic
6 Seasons, 60 Episodes (running time: 58’)
The longest reign in Europe besides that of Louis XIV in France: more than seventy years during which the world changed time and again and characters came and went, all but Elizabeth II, who seemed to be eternal. The Crown, six seasons about the world’s most loved, celebrated and contested monarchy, begins with the royal wedding in 1957
and extends into the new century, crossing the Queen’s private and family affairs with the profound social transformations of the 20th century.
In contrast to other series in which history serves as a backdrop for invented costumed characters and period settings, The Crown treats the sources with philological attention, only at times manipulating veracity in favour of dramaturgical characters. The common thread is found in the tenacity of Elizabeth II in defending the role of the English monarchy in a rapidly changing world that she cannot ignore despite her natural conservative leanings. Here, it is enough to consider her conversations and relationships with prime ministers (she appointed no less than 15), including Winston Churchill (John Lithgow), Harold Wilson (Jason
Watkins), Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) and Tony Blair (Bertie Carvel). Playwright Peter Morgan, already Oscar-nominated for the screenplays of The Queen (2006) and Frost/Nixon (2008), began developing the subject of the series after the play The Audience (2013), which focused on the weekly meetings that the Queen granted to her cabinet chiefs to receive an up-to-date report on the country’s affairs. The British monarchy is a perfect narrative machine, and the series includes all the characters that have become so familiar to us: Prince Philip, Charles and Diana, Camilla and Princess Margaret (played in the third and fourth seasons by the talented Helena Bonham Carter). Three different actresses were called upon to play Elizabeth II in as many stages of her life: Claire Foy, Olivia Colman
and Imelda Staunton. The series offers an opportunity to look back over twentieth century history: the Suez Crisis, the Swinging Sixties, the Falklands War, the marriage of Charles and Diana, and the Golden Jubilee.
Queen Elizabeth was an icon to everyone, even Jamie Reid, art director of the Sex Pistols, who in 1977 violently mocked her image with a punk and Dadaist gesture, right when the world was celebrating her 25 years of reign.
From an idea by Cristiana Farina, written with Maurizio Careddu
Genre Teen Drama
4 Seasons, 50 Episodes (running time 45’)
Based on an original idea by Cristiana Farina and written with Maurizio Careddu, the first season of Mare fuori debuted on 23 September 2020 on Rai2 TV and RaiPlay, continuing for a total of 12 episodes (two per evening), garnering little response. But then something unexpected happened:
in contrast to its prime-time broadcast, the series reached the top of the most viewed content online on RaiPlay, generating a close-knit social fandom. A phenomenon dubbed the ‘Mare fuori effect’ was triggered, with fans flocking to the film locations and imitating the look of the protagonists. The narrative elements are as simple as they are tried and tested: Carmine Di Salvo and Rosa Ricci, from rival families, are the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. The title – the sea that can be seen from behind bars – is a symbol of freedom and hope of getting out and a direct reference to Boys on the Outside (Ragazzi fuori) of 1990, the sequel to Forever Mery (Mery per sempre), both directed by Marco Risi and set in the Malaspina juvenile
prison. Its theme is the same as that of the successful Orange Is The New Black, and the two share the same premise: Piper and Chiattillo, which means good boy in Neapolitan, have both committed a crime but are not criminals, and as they are harassed in prison, they are forced to learn the rules early on. However, it is not a specific genre but a mix of prison, teen drama and coming of age. Its success is driven mainly by the younger generation and The Sea Beyond particularly appeals to the female audience. The characters are teenagers who have done wrong, they represent extreme situations both inside and outside prison (young people love and seek the extreme); they have difficult experiences, they are violent but also emotional, even fragile. Teenagers with their heightened sensitivities love
narratives of this kind. There is an underlying theme of redemption: I can save myself, but how? Through love, which has the strong power to transform people. Or through some rare adult who becomes a positive role model: good ‘grown-ups’, almost never parents. While their families are uncomprehending and indeed harmful to them, these young people meet honest, lawabiding, understanding adults in the institution, people who can help them, like the headmistress, the commandant and the teachers. Friendship, music, tattoos, haircuts do the rest.
The Sea Beyond also works because it promotes values and represents contemporary society’s ways of feeling: empathy, emotionality and inclusiveness, in a world that is violent by definition. The inmates at first
appear divided into clans and then express a humanity and fragility that sometimes explode, creating new alliances and friendships based on personal affinities and sensitivity, especially in the female group. And viewers cannot help but become attached to them.
coproduction Rai Fiction and Picomedia Produced by Roberto Sessa
Romanzo criminale La serie
Italy, 2008-2010
Directed by Stefano Sollima Genre Crime
2 Seasons, 22 Episodes (running time: 60’)
Before the expansion of its narrative in the series that introduced a new generation of actors – Francesco Montanari, Vinicio Marchioni, Alessandro Roja and Marco Bocci among others –and brought the director Stefano Sollima (son of Sergio, who made genre films) to the pinnacle of
success, Romanzo criminale was a book and a film.
Published by Einaudi in 2002 and written by the former magistrate Giancarlo De Cataldo, the book was part fiction, part reality. The film, directed by Michele Placido, came out in 2005 and enjoyed critical success, winning eight David di Donatello and five Nastri d’Argento Awards. Its exceptional cast included Kim Rossi Stuart, Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudio Santamaria, Stefano Accorsi, Riccardo Scamarcio and Jasmine Trinca.
In 2008, Romanzo criminale - La serie premiered on Sky Cinema. It was inspired by the activity of the Banda della Magliana starting in the 1970s, when common crime in the capital was intertwined with politics: robberies, kidnappings, extortion and drug dealing, the Moro case, the Bologna massacre
and bribes. Above all, it is a violent and romantic portrait of a bloody and corrupt Rome, with songs by Franco Califano and paintings by Mario Schifano, which inspired artists such as Marco Cingolani. In contrast to the poliziottesco or Italian-style detective genre of the 1970s, to which Romanzo criminale certainly owes a lot, the roles were largely inspired by real people and do not follow Manichean logic. There is no clear division between good guys (a few) and bad guys (almost everyone), and even the counterhero good cop is attracted to the woman romantically linked with one of the criminals. Another strong point of the series is the refinement of the settings, rigorously accurate down to the tiniest detail, from the clothes to the hairstyles, from the vehicles to
the streets, so much so as to make Rome appear frozen in time. Romanzo criminale represents a turning point in the career of Stefano Sollima, who in 2014 directed several episodes of the first season of Gomorra (20142021), returning to tv with Zero Zero (2020) based, like the previous one, on the novels by Roberto Saviano. Sollima has proven himself as a specialist in the crime genre on the big screen, too. Two of his best films, Suburra (2015) and Adagio (2023), present an extraordinary portrait of criminal Rome which was not covered by the Great Beauty.
Courtesy of Sky Italia and Cattleya.
Photos by Emanuela Scarpa and Fabio Lovino
Game of Thrones
USA, 2011-2019
Created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss
Genre Fantasy
8 Seasons, 73 Episodes (running time: 57’)
Based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones debuted on HBO in 2011. Although the books already had a large fan base – the second volume, A Clash of Kings, was on the New York Times best seller list – it was the success of fantasy films,
particularly The Lord of the Rings saga, that prompted production companies and writers to start looking for a new blockbuster to translate into a television series, despite the author’s initial reluctance.
The first season was a success, with an average of 2.5 million viewers per episode in the United States, but – unusual for a television series – these numbers continued to increase year after year, reaching almost 20 million for the final episode, 13.6 of which watched it live, considering just the official numbers. Among the many records held by the series (not least its nomination for 161 Emmy Awards with 65 wins), it also holds the record for number of illegal downloads on the Internet. To avoid leaks and spoilers, the eighth and final season was broadcast in Italy on
Sky, late at night, simultaneous to America. The Game of Thrones fandom is one of the most dedicated and loyal ever. What is the reason for the series’ massive success? The fantasy settings, magnificent sets and incredible costumes and scenes, all on a par with the big blockbusters, have certainly contributed to the triumph of the series, which did not stint on violent content and sex scenes. Game of Thrones is in fact more than just simple ‘fantasy’. It crosses over visual and literary genres and subgenres, drawing on fantasy fiction, video games, comics and even painting.
As with every self-respecting saga, there are loads of characters, the narrative is polyphonic and the settings are captivating. The depth and complexity of the characters automatically trigger sympathy and antipathy within the same
house, even though the family members are united by a code, complete with mottos and war cries: ‘Winter is coming’ ‘We do not sow’ and ‘A Lannister always pays his debts’. The scriptwriters also had the courage to kill off the most important characters. With the execution of Ned Stark, the message came through loud and clear: no one is safe, our heroes can abandon us at any moment. The process of character identification generated by Game of Thrones is reflected in the phenomenon of cosplayers, who continue to dress up as their heroes all over the world.
Although there is no direct connection, visual art has, in parallel, become increasingly interested in the fantasy world. A significant example is the artist Agostino Arrivabene.
In his paintings, such as The Exterminating Angel (2007), created using traditional techniques and fine materials, we can glimpse the influence of the old masters – Van Eyck, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Dürer and Rembrandt – who guided him on his quest for imagery with a strong visionary charge and filled with allegorical and mythological references.
Squid Game
South Korea, 2021-in production
Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk
Genre Dystopian, Action
1 Season, 9 Episodes (duration 32’-62’)
Initially conceived as a film, Squid Game premiered on Netflix in September 2021, becoming the most-watched TV series in the platform’s history in less than twenty days.
South Korean film director Hwang Dong-hyuk began working on the script in 2008, at a time when he often visited comic book shops, with the idea of writing a story
inspired by some of the manga that were popular in Korea at the time, such as Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale and Shinobu Kaitani’s Liar Game . Dong-hyuk finished the draft in 2009 but had to give up the project, which was considered excessively violent at the time, and work on the feature films Silenced (2011), Miss Granny (2014) and The Fortress (2017) before he could make the series.
The nine episodes tell the story of 456 people, recruited from a mass of debt-ridden, petty criminals and underpaid immigrants, who agree to compete in a death match to win a 45.6 billion won (around 33 million euros) jackpot. Observed by a small group of bored billionaires, the participants are transported to a desert island off the southeast coast of Korea, where
they face six different trials – traditional children’s games, from ‘red light, green light’ to the squid game (ojingeo). Round after round, the play turns into a harrowing struggle for survival.
Following the success of the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2020) directed by Bong Joon-ho, Squid Game – the second season of which will be released by the end of 2024, as officially announced by Netflix – confirms the leading role assumed by the K-drama audiovisual industry, establishing itself not only as a cultural phenomenon, but also –and above all – as an economic one.
Since its release, the series has led to a 135% increase in online searches related to South Korea, a 7,800% increase in sales of the Vans shoes worn by the characters and contributed to 4.28 million
new Netflix subscribers in just over a month. These figures reveal that viewers have not just watched the episodes but have developed a real craze for a country that was previously little known and has now reached a global fame.
The psychologically impactful set design acts as a backdrop for a metaphor of contemporary society and is a co-star of the narrative: between the gloomy atmosphere of a Panopticon and the sugary evocation of a stereotypical kindergarten, the spaces are designed to subtly and insidiously affect the psychology of the characters. There is no shortage of references to art, as in the case of the stairs that the characters climb to access the game arenas, inspired by the famous Relativity lithograph
(1953) by the Dutch artist M.C.
Escher and the postmodern Muralla Roja house designed by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill.
