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Post by kissmekate on Jan 18, 2011 14:44:50 GMT
I've had some trouble reading the review because my computer didn't display it properly ... but of course there have to be some  voices as well (while the general press echo was rather good). I'll try to have another look at it at home. |
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Post by anniem on Jan 18, 2011 18:53:21 GMT
Not really sure where to put this from the Times fashionmatrix section on Jan 5th 2011: Not so good that Roof is considered 'we like' High Street' end, but quite amusing that Ed Stoppard (though to be fair he's featured in Upstairs Downstairs here) is at the 'we dislike' High Street !  |
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Post by nell on Jan 18, 2011 20:44:27 GMT
LOL I wish there was an Aurelio Zen on my High Street. I could even start to like shopping.....
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jan 18, 2011 22:30:49 GMT
Wouldn't that be a great name for an upmarket place? They'd have to have Rufus to be their signature style icon, wouldn't they? LOL!
Tip, sorry to hear about all your troubles, but I'm sure watching Rufus made you feel a whole lot better!
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Post by joyceinva on Jan 19, 2011 0:08:32 GMT
I finally got to watch Ratking. And all I have to say is that I totally agree with everyone here, it definitely was the strongest of the three. At the beginning, I was kind of worried, it seemed like they were changing so much, but like the other episodes, they did keep the bones of the story. Not sure that I like some, all, of the changes, but it worked as a strong story. I think all of the performances were excellent - one of my favorite moments was when Colonna (after Zen is arrested) asks him where the money is. And Zen says "What money?" The look on Colonna's face is priceless! Lots and lots of good moments though - Zen with his mamma before the ransom drop, saying goodbye to Tania, Moscali putting down a bet on Zen. Enjoyed it a lot. Glad to see that the promotion is only temporary until Moscali comes back. It wouldn't be the same with Zen in any position of power - the whole point is that he's the outsider, the powerless one but still the one who outwits the powerful. It was hard to read the expression on Rufus/Zen's face when he was saying goodbye to Tania. He was sad, yes, but to me, it seemed like he almost expected this to happen. That he wasn't really expecting to see her again. I hope that they continue without her in future episodes. In the books, Zen becomes involved with a woman named Gemma and I liked her much more than Tania. For one thing she never wanted anything from Zen. Oh and numbat - it's taken me a few days, but I finally have the come-back for Mr. Numbat's slur that we only dislike Tania since she gets to shag Zen and we don't. Not so - we didn't mind Ellen shagging Tom at all. Cause we knew she loved him so we were ok with it. So obviously, our dislike of Tania is because we all had the feeling that she was going to break the poor boy's heart. And she did. |
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jan 19, 2011 0:34:05 GMT
but to me, it seemed like he almost expected this to happen. That he wasn't really expecting to see her again. Yup, that's exactly what I thought, Joyce, when he gave this little look:  |
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jan 19, 2011 0:43:02 GMT
Just found this review - not entirely glowing, but nice stuff about Rufus and the series as a whole: End of series: Zen
Tuesday, 18th January 2011
Jacob Martin
Those who have been hooked on Dancing on Ice and Wild at Heart may not have noticed that BBC1 has been putting effort in for once, and have produced a new, expensive detective drama series, Zen. But while it has provided a source of entertainment during its very short 3-part run, it hasn’t quite set the screen alight.
The series is set in an Italy where no one speaks Italian, but they do say ‘grazie’ and ‘prego’. This does take some digesting, but you soon learn that the setting is irrelevant. All you really need to know is that Rufus Sewell plays Detective Aurelio Zen, who is known for his honesty and integrity. This also means that a high-ranking government minister often manipulates Zen in order to get the outcome he wants from each week’s case.
Each episode of the series has varied in quality somewhat. The first episode was painfully slow. The second episode was much better, despite another slow start. The third episode finally showed Zen in full swing, with the familiarity of the regular characters and the format of a crime occurring, with the minister requesting Zen to be put onto the case, being fully established. This meant that the episode was able to be a bit more creative than it had been at the start.
The main trouble that has blighted every episode of Zen is that the overarching plot regarding government cover ups doesn’t make a great deal of sense. The reason for this is that the revelations about what is actually going on are saved for the last three minutes, when they are terribly rushed. Also, the scenes are done in such a way, with whispering, cryptic conversations, that it doesn’t make you want to try to work out what is happening, yet these scenes should be the highlights of the episodes.
While Zen has definitely got issues, the character, most refreshingly, does not. He’s not an alcoholic, a drug addict, a cheat, a psycho... he doesn’t even have a shady past. This makes him easy to relate to, and Rufus Sewell is excellent in the role. Caterina Murino (who will forever be the other woman from Casino Royale) is also good as his love interest, despite her role requiring little more than her looks.
The best part about the series, though, has to be the opening credits sequence, which oozes class. It is therefore unfortunate that Zen doesn’t always live up to them. Yes, the scenery is gorgeous, and Italy provides a welcome retreat from the harsh representation of central London that has become increasingly common in modern dramas, but the credits suggest that Zen will be like a stylish 1960s spy caper, in the vein of The Thomas Crown Affair. At times there are certainly indications of this style, but this sense of fun isn’t consistently sustained, which has resulted in a slow pace and occasionally muddled storylines.
Despite this, it would be nice to see Zen recommissioned, as the third episode showed the development that the series had made. A second series should therefore be able to continue to smooth out the problems and reach the heights that it clearly has the potential to do.www.theyorker.co.uk/news/film/6243 |
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Post by rumantic on Jan 19, 2011 1:18:21 GMT
Finally got to watch all three episodes back to back to back (what a glorious afternoon...) without having to stop every minute and a half for my internet connection to catch up (thanks to my brilliant 18 yr old daughter.) I have to agree with what has been said so far that Ratking is the best of the three. The development of the recurring characters made the story much more enjoyable, and I liked the tension with the new (though temporary) boss. I actually laughed out loud several times while watching this one. My favorite parts: More Rufus, less clothes  When they broke the boss' desk, rigged it up, and then he unknowingly sat on it and fell to the floor. Really liked Zen's reaction after receiving the briefcase full of money, when he really looked like he wanted to open it, decided not to, then said "Cool!" I also liked the following scene where Zen (LOVING the legs...) and Tania fantasize about taking the money and where they could go with it. I also noticed a bit of Tom Builder in there while they were looking out the window. And I thought his parting shot as Hueber lugs his belongings onto the elevator.."Oh, by the way, we shagged on your desk." was delightful. I know that there is more, and I've only just stopped watching like 3 minutes ago, but I'm on Rufus overload right now, and I think I need to do something else until my brain (well, not just my brain  ) stops smouldering. |
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Post by tipou on Jan 19, 2011 1:28:03 GMT
for those still missing all the fun, all 3 eps of zen are now available on stagevu.com
it is free and does not require any sign on nonsense.
you can either watch or download.
that is where i also could watch the 3 sherlock eps.
for zen, go to the stagevu search bar at the top and type in "zen vendetta" "zen cabal" or "zen ratking".
have fun!
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Post by rumantic on Jan 19, 2011 1:33:18 GMT
Tipou,
I wish I had known that on Sunday....the site we used took until this morning to finish downloading all 3 eps.....but it was soooo worth it!
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Post by GreenEyesToo on Jan 19, 2011 15:19:30 GMT
Many of us can relate to this, I'm sure : Middle-aged, middle-class women have a new pin-up. Goodbye Daniel Craig! Farewell Philip Glenister! Well, hell-o there Rufus Sewell! I have not met one female aged between 35 and 55 recently who’s not having lustful thoughts about the brooding star of Italian cop drama Zen. One good friend confessed this weekend that she spent an hour online gazing at photos of him. Sadly, she wasn’t the only one getting overheated. Her computer crashed and she had to seek help from her techno-whizz husband, who promptly asked, “What were you looking at?” As she said, there’s no right answer to such a question.
www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/rowanpelling/8267793/I-asked-for-no-fuss-on-my-birthday-and-thats-what-I-got.html ;D ;D ;D Oh, and a couple of the comments in reply: The mysteries of Zen. Why do women always seem to go for the less conventionally handsome men - or the bastards? This remains a lifelong mystery to all the overlooked nice guys and dumped pretty boys. and "Less conventionally handsome"? Come on man, I'm a (straight) dude and Sewell is pure sex. I think they're both right - Rufus is unconventionally handsome, in my opinion, and he is certainly pure sex!  |
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Post by anniem on Jan 19, 2011 19:08:27 GMT
LOL I wish there was an Aurelio Zen on my High Street. I could even start to like shopping..... Nell. Today's fashionmatrix is even better. I am we would all like to go shopping for silk satin shirts and then go and commit the crime !  |
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Post by rueful on Jan 19, 2011 19:27:37 GMT
The point at which Rufus Sewell refers to his mother using intonation more common in Downton Abbey than Italy was an obvious error that would have taken no time to fix. More amusingly was the murderer's accomplice who instead of consoling his father, used intonation such that he was actually consoling the Pope. Call me old-fashioned but I am fairly sure the Pope wasn't heavily involved in kidnapping police officers...
Everything tells me that it shouldn't matter, but it represents shoddiness. Someone rushed through the fine details so that they could make it as fast as possible to get that hard-earned cash. It has potential to be really good, but I'm watching the secretary thinking 'why is she the only one with an Italian accent?' Surely the laws of logic dictate that she is actually English if the English people are all playing Italians. Unfortunately having a foot in both camps like that will only get under the skin of viewers.The above is one section of the review dreamer posted. The writer's argument makes no sense to me. First she complains that Rufus says "mama" with the wrong accent, that is, a British one. However, she later complains that Tania has an Italian accent, because it's inconsistent with the other performances. So why is she annoyed by Rufus's use of a consistent accent approach? I don't know, these accent complaints are really getting weird to me. I love the show, but I realize there are probably legitimate gripes to make about it. This one just seems kind of a strange thing to hang your "I hate this show" hat on. GE2, LOVE the "pin up" quote! The woman with the melting computer could be just about anyone here! ;D Jothehat, thanks for the link to your latest review--it was great! I hope you'll get the opportunity to write many more.
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Post by jothehat on Jan 19, 2011 21:00:50 GMT
Thanks Rueful - me too. Will be keeping close eye on BBC press office for announcement of more Zen!
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Post by joyceinva on Jan 19, 2011 22:25:42 GMT
Rueful said:
I agree with you there - especially since this isn't something new. This is exactly how the same production team did the series "Wallander."
Unless you want to have them all speaking Italian, with subtitles, it's going to be inauthentic having them speak English in the first place. To me, it was more important that when you saw Zen reading the paper - it was in Italian, the signs in the stores were in Italian, little things like that. Because the rest of the setting was seeped in Italian-ness, I could get past the accents easily.
My only gripe about accents is the sexist crap the producer gave for casting Caterina Murino. "English women can't play Italian women." Pure crap! I see that Cosmia Shaw, Julie Cox, and the actress who played Cinza Milletti could all play Italian women quite well!
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) stops smouldering.
