“True Love”, the Korean “Alien” and many detectives: the most interesting series of February

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The whole charm of the series is that they are long and different. A long story, once realized in literature as a novel, has become an eventful, visual and textual pleasure in TV series. This is what we focused this month’s search in the full serial sea.

For example, in the Australian “Cloak Absorbs the Universe”, each series is one of those that you wait for, like a whole, big and original dish. Maybe because it is a screen adaptation of a literary work with a bunch of well-marked things and skillful generalizations with signs of future phraseology, like “behind every wealth there is a crime”.

The same feeling of satisfaction is given by the American “Monsieur Spade”, where the screenwriters recreated the style and quality of the recognized master of words and image Dashiell Hammett – a completely understandable desire to pause the video in order to record the next (every minute!) joke, worth repeating already as a winged expression The Korean “Creature from Gyeongseong” and the German “Oderbouch” are plot pleasures, because you have to look for such originality in the creation of monsters.

“True love” is another ideological boldness of the British. “Lords of the Sky” is another large-scale production masterpiece of the Americans. And their 4-series documentary “On the Road” is a clear answer to why HBO Max streaming teamed up with the documentary giant Discovery last year.

Enjoy!

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Creature from Gyeongseong (Gyeongseong keuricheo)

Screening: Netflix, South Korea

This 10-episode epic, which is simultaneously a historical, patriotic, detective, action, melodramatic and fantasy-horror story, ended in January. And the creators managed to keep this whole genre rainbow within the limits of common sense. Although at the heart of it is a story beyond it. How the Japanese before and during the Second World War experimented on the Koreans (in particular), destroying as a result more than 10 (!) million people from that region. And “Creature from Gyeongseong” is another genre masterpiece.

Starting with the fact that the daughter and father, looking for their long-lost mother, turn to a wealthy and self-confident Korean pawnshop owner. He himself is looking for another missing woman, whose lover – a privileged Japanese – threatens to take everything from the Korean if he does not find what the Japanese needs. The search leads to a local hospital. And then we see nightmare and revolution, love and sacrifice. And there are also allusions to “Aliens” and even a kind of frame-homage from Korean creators specifically to Stephen King and the film adaptation of his “Night Shift”. It is scary and impressive!

Boy Swallows Universe

Screening: Netflix, Australia

The naturalness and genuineness of the series fascinates you as soon as you look at the suburbs of Brisbane, Australia, in the mid-80s of the 20th century. And also – details of various situations unfolding in the family of a small talkative boy, his silent brother, who is able to see fragments of the future, their stepfather, a heroin dealer, and their mother, who is sometimes addicted to this heroin.

Comical and sad collisions of heroes for 4 years are full of things, but there is wisdom in them. Like the conversation between the stepfather and the boy: “Why are you crying?” asks the first. “Because I have many tears inside,” answers the second. “You are crying because you are a good boy,” the stepfather continues. – Don’t be ashamed of tears. You cry because you don’t care. And those who don’t cry – screw them!”.

The thoughtfulness and originality of the dialogues is explained by the mastery of Trent Dalton’s debut book of the same name, honored with dozens of awards. But the harmony in the frame is created by an amazing ensemble of actors, where Travis Fimmel (“Vikings”) is far from the first place, but the little-known performers of the roles of brothers – Felix Cameron and Lee Tiger Haley. The series is a highlight!

True love (True love)

Show: Channel 4, Great Britain

A group of old friends in their 70s came to the funeral. And over a drink, they decided that it is not worth dying like a friend – in agony and waiting. It is necessary to “help”, to perform a kind of euthanasia: one of them, Ken (Clark Peters (“Jessica Jones”)), a former soldier, will do everything, and a former policewoman, Phil (Lindsay Duncan (“Sherlock”)) – will clean everything up. But soon the idea, expressed as a half-joke, acquired a real need and implementation.

“True Love” is a mixture of drama, criminal detective, love story and an important social dilemma, when helping a terminally ill person to die may have signs of an intentional crime. Considering the already existing permission for euthanasia in 10 countries of the world, the dilemma is not far-fetched.

In 6 episodes of the series, she transforms, making a sharp turn in the spirit of Colombo or Miss Marple. It is interesting that the red thread here is the issue of “choice”: to do or not to do, thus changing the statusquo. Phil didn’t dare to accept Ken’s proposal years ago, and thus wasted their dream life. Now they make a different decision. Original, at least.

Oderbruch

Screening: Netflix, Germany

The most strange and intriguing series of the month. Delight and shock. And about which it is not known how to talk about, so as not to break the intrigue, even though I desperately want to. In fact, the viewer will have before their eyes a clear criminal drama, where two former lovers, and now, 20 years later, police officers, are called to their native village on the border of Poland and Germany, where they found a real mountain of bodies, a mixture of people and animals.

All of them have one common feature – they are completely bloodless. The investigation of this horror is impossible without finding out the past – what happened 20 years ago, what the parents of the main characters are hiding, why the heroine’s brother died and who she is. Somewhere in the middle of the 8-episode series, the investigators come across a strange explanation of corpses and their signs – vampires.

And after that, an even more strange thing begins: the dramatic police canvas should have deviated significantly in the direction of mysticism, but this does not happen. This is not mysticism! What exactly – you have to watch almost until the last minute. The only thing that can be added is that one of the screenwriters and directors is Christian Alvert, the creator of the extraordinary “Pandorum”.

Monsieur Spade

Show: AMC Networks/Fifth Season, USA

In any modern TV series, you will not hear such a text, full of metaphors, comparisons and witticisms, which are heard here from the beginning to the end, without a break. A few examples, and not the best: “I will treat her like any beautiful woman – with respect in her presence and lust in her absence”, “if you take this as a threat, then you have not been taught the difference between a promise and a promise” etc.

Based on the creativity of detective genius Dashiell Hammett, the series was created by talented writers-directors Tom Fontana (“The Borgia”) and Scott Frank (“The Queen’s Gambit”). In the main role here is Clive Owen (“American Crime Story”), and his character, Sam Spade, is exactly Hammett’s creature. A private detective, according to the plot, he comes from America to France in 1963 to give his daughter to his father at the request of a woman. But he doesn’t give up, and what’s more, he stays in France to start investigating the strange and terrible murder of six nuns at the same time. Lovers of detective literature and delicious text – an absolute pleasure for the ears!

Masters of Air

Shown: AppleTV+, USA

As expected, the series became the winner of viewers, critics and ratings. Which is understandable, given the maximum professionalism in the performance of each of its segments, produced by Spielberg and Hanks.

With regard to the Second World War, namely the participation in it of the United States, more specifically – the Air Force, the objective world is perfectly depicted here, including the planes themselves, the clothes, the weapons and the life of the pilots, as well as the level of special effects when the planes engage in numerous battles with German fighters or ground-based anti-aircraft guns. And we are talking about the year 1943 and the airfield in Britain, from which planes took off to bomb Norway and Germany.

The detailing of every centimeter of the film and the war is one of the main successes of the series: the explanation of operations, take-off, flight and landing; details of injuries, conversations, relationships, orders and deaths. Plus general drama, like glue for connecting everything into a single goal. And without this, the rather complex, multi-faceted and many-event background of the plot would not have such an ideal appearance for the eye and attention. Madness and delight!

On the Roam

Screening: MAX, USA

The great Khal Drogo, Aquaman and Baba Voss, that is, Hollywood star Jason Mamoa, makes his dreams come true. And, in the interval between the filming of the TV series “See” and the films “The Last Hunt” and “Fast and Furious X”, he travels to America, Britain and New Zealand. He meets his idols, inspires those he cares about, and creates something extraordinary.

In 6 episodes, Jason goes to manufacturers and collectors of rare bikes, to a great photographer, to a blacksmith-maker of knives; meets Slash; to an old friend; pleases his children; converts his old Rolls-Royce into an electric car, makes a copy of an antique guitar and buys a rare motorcycle…

Mamoa is very emotional, open and human, he sincerely wonders, reacts violently, jumps and hugs all his visavi, confessing his feelings to them. What’s more, the series was shot at the highest level of documentary cinema, using all the capabilities of a modern camera: from slow motion and close-ups to special effects and lens focus, capable of making the shots truly mystical. Fine!

Read also: Crown, nobleman and Berlin: review of the best TV series in January

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