Zen (3/11)
The
detective novels by Michael Dibdin have been adapted by the BBC in this
series starring Rufus Sewell as Aurelio Zen. Apparently he's from
Venice, which is what he says whenever anyone asks about his unusual
last name. As a police detective in Rome who is separated from his
wife and lives with his mother, Zen is thorough but not out of synch
with the slightly dodgy nature of justice in Italy. In the first
story, a mysterious government official wants Zen to get a confessed
murderer off before he embarrasses the powers that be. But Zen's boss
at police headquarters tells him he'd better find the suspect guilty as
charged. Meanwhile, Zen takes an interest in a new secretary at the
station even though she's married and several of his colleagues have
their eyes on her as well. Zen's case takes him to a remote village,
but unknown to him, an old case is coming back to haunt him, with
possibly fatal results. The visual style for Zen
is right out of the 1970s with power zooms and extreme rack focus
shots. But Sewell cuts a good figure, he says he took the part because
he wanted to do something a bit lighter, and there's a harrowing scene
in an underwater cave where Zen nearly drowns. It must have been very
unpleasant to shoot, particularly wearing a full three-piece suit and
soaking wet. The production has the slight twinge of British cultural
superiority hovering over the Italian countryside, with corruption
seemingly inherent everywhere Zen goes. Despite okay ratings, the BBC
declined to commission a second series.
Zero To Hero (10/05)
Latest in Scrapheap Challenge
type competition shows with a superhero theme. Two ordinary folks,
with the assistance of friends, a technical expert, and the resources of
Channel 4, design, build, and become superheros in a single day in order
to demonstrate a particular power and accomplish a task. One week
it might be wall climbing, the next walking on water. A masked woman
in red PVC as "the evil Nemesis" is on hand to throw obstacles at them,
but mostly it's a race against time using thrown-together spare parts to
win the day.
Written and maintained by Ryan K. Johnson (rkj@eskimo.com).
March 27, 2011