Zen - the spoiler/review thread

[numbat]

I agree dippy!!! How could she resist??? Although i guess she did ask him to come upstairs. She should have been a little more subtle tho;

Come inside and i'll clean your face up for you.

Oh, the medicine cabinet is upstairs....... in the bedroom.........

Now just lay down on the bed, this antiseptic might sting and i wouldn't want your knees to buckle

Oh look, you have blood all over your shirt, just slip it off and i'll get you a clean one

Oh look, you have blood all over your pants, just slip them off and.............

I wish i was a scriptwriter ;D

(BTW, i agree with Rai about the music. I really enjoyed the cool 60's inspired opening credits as well)

[dippyponge]

lol, my thoughts exactly.

[numbat]

Yay, 505 guests now - hello everyone!!!

Please don't be shy. Login and tell us what you thought of Rufus in Zen. We'd love to hear your opinions.

And don't worry if you just want to login and tell us how gorgeous he is. We'll all agree with you!!!

;D

[GreenEyesToo]

LOL, Numbat, that's the number over the past 24 hours, not right now!

Jan 3, 2011 3:47:48 GMT numbat said:

BTW, i agree with Rai about the music.)

There was music??? I was somehow distracted by a certain raspy, sexy voice


Okay, looking at the online reviews now. Hmmm......mixed. Edited comments:

Rufus Sewell stars as Zen, looking very Italian, but sounding exactly like Rufus Sewell, only hoarser. <.....> The story quickly became preposterous, and the ending, for a murder mystery, was curiously flat and inconsequential. The ride was enjoyable enough – atmospheric in a murky, grey-green sort of way, with a pleasing, restrained chemistry between Sewell and his love interest, the (actually Italian) Caterina Murino. So far I like Zen, or at least the idea of him – honest but perhaps not incorruptible; hard-nosed, if slightly worried about messing up his shoes – but I don't like having my suspension of disbelief stretched to breaking point. I've already bought Sewell as a Venetian – go easy on me.
The Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/jan/03/tv-review-zen-eric-and-ernie

So, it's pleasing - perhaps even slightly miraculous - to be able to give at least two and half cheers to "Vendetta", the first of three new Zen stories from the BBC <.....> The biggest question for aficionados will be over Rufus Sewell's suitability to play Zen. In the books, Zen can be lazy and devious, but he has developed his own eccentric technique for negotiating the labyrinth of bureaucracy and corruption that shrouds the Italian police and judiciary. There's a seedy and unhealthy quality about him, though somehow his sleuthing skills remain supernaturally sharp. Sewell, on the other hand, looks crisp and dynamic and movie-star-ish <.....> But sweep all that aside, and you still had a pacy and intriguing thriller, dripping with gorgeous panoramas of Rome and haunting Italian countryside, with a screenplay by Simon Burke which managed to hit many of the salient Dibdin-esque bullet points. <.....> Sewell had found a nice understated tone in which to play Zen, and was able to suggest an analytical mind ticking constantly behind a bumbling, facetious exterior. There were some smart nuggets of dialogue, like when Murano's Tania Morelli asked him: "Are we going to have an affair?" Zen: "Yes." Tania: "OK."

Or the moment where Zen was propositioned by the Russian housekeeper at the mansion of a billionaire murder victim. He looked stunned. "What's the matter? You don't like sex?" she demanded. "No, I remember it very fondly, " muttered Zen.

And, against the odds, this TV Zen retained some of the sense of primitive and brutal mystery that Dibdin brought to his depictions of Italy.

www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2829:zen-bbc1&Itemid=27 (you'll need to copy and paste this link)

I still love that dialogue!

[lisa]

Loved it!
His voice is just to die for!

I have to say, the cave scenes had me on edge, the things that nightmares are made of and the kissing scene was just gorgeous. (I loved the way Rufus chose to ignore the implication, in the BBC Breakfast interview, about rehearsing that scene)

I'll definitely be watching Vendetta again over the next few days ;D

[numbat]

LOL, Numbat, that's the number over the past 24 hours, not right now!

I know that GE2

Hahahaha, I know i'm stupid but i'm not that bad!!!!

But we don't normally get that many visitors in 24 hours. Before Pillars we were lucky to crack 200 in a day and before Zen it was just under 300.

So that's an extra 200 people who could log on and say nice things about our Rufus if they wanted.

Just trying to be hospitable!!!

;D

BTW - 525 guests when i logged on last - so they're still coming!!!

[GreenEyesToo]

Sorry, I wasn't getting at you - just sayin'!!

[numbat]

Jan 3, 2011 10:11:59 GMT GreenEyesToo said:

Sorry, I wasn't getting at you - just sayin'!!

That's ok, i know you weren't luv, but you know how i'm prone to over excitement when people come to visit us!!!

But they need to bring us pressies - like lovely words about how fantastic Rufus was last night!!!

;D

(We're up to 534 546 in the last 24 hours - and 20 22 online right now!!!)

But on the subject of reviews this one made me laugh:

It was an Ancient and Modern head-to-head on Sunday evening, as far as detective fiction went.

Over on ITV was Agatha Christie's Marple, in which the poison is generally served up with sweet sherry and antimacassars, while on BBC1 we had Zen, the first of three feature-length adaptations of Michael Dibdin's admired novels about a Rome detective who, on this evidence, works in the Couture Investigation Department, a branch entirely staffed by male models in excellent suits. Zen introduced itself with a stylish set of Sixties titles (complete with the noodling female vocals that became a benchmark of la dolce vita around that time) and looked initially like an extended version of one of the thousands of perfume adverts that infect the airwaves at this time of year.

Well, not quite "initially" perhaps, since only the most challengingly macho fragrance would sell itself with a scene in which a judge is murdered on a remote country road, but once that violent preamble was out of the way, it was pretty much L'Uomo Vogue all the way. The cinematographer appears to be Caravaggio, the costume designer Armani and the chief preoccupations of Zen's colleagues seemed to be extra-marital affairs, long lunches and this season's coolest sunglasses.

The violent preamble was part of a vendetta, an ex-con with a grievance working his way through the list of people he blames for his false conviction, a list that concludes with Zen himself. We, meanwhile, understood that there must be some mistake here because Zen's infuriating probity is a persistent nuisance for his boss (the excellent Stanley Townsend), who has the thankless task of ensuring that the outcome of investigations match up with the state's requirements. And in this episode Zen – played by Rufus Sewell – found himself in a particularly tricky spot. A shadowy figure from high in the ministry wanted him to exonerate a man accused of murder, in case inconvenient facts emerged during his defence testimony. But his boss simultaneously wanted him to make the conviction stick, to avoid embarrassing his immediate superiors. In both cases Zen would pay for failure with his career. He was so preoccupied that he even temporarily forgot to flirt with the gorgeous new secretary, Tania, whose immediate sexual prospects were the subject of an office sweepstake.

It looks good – the images are as sharply defined as the tailoring – and Sewell captures some of the character's melancholy (the result of an ailing mother and a broken relationship), but for anyone relishing the cynical skulduggery of Italian ministerial politics the later plot developments were something of a disappointment. Heading to the scene of the crime, which offered a classic sealed-room conundrum, Zen only had to mooch around in the shrubbery a while before he'd discovered the local wild child and the network of secret tunnels that were the key to the mystery. A drama that began with Berlusconi-style conspiracies, as dark and intense as an espresso, suddenly turned into Enid Blyton with an Italian accent, complete with swarthy villains and underground adventure. Even Zen himself sounded embarrassed: "It's incredible," he told Tania, "the case just fell open in front of me." With any luck next week's episode will get him back in Rome where he belongs, no more than five minutes from the nearest Versace outlet and some nine-to-five Machiavelli.

The Couture Investigation Department - a branch staffed entirely by male models in excellent suits!!!! The police department of my dreams ;D

This is the link to the whole article:
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-weekends-tv-zen-bbc1breric-and-ernie-bbc2-2174501.html

[nell]

OMG so much to read so little time.

Loved Vendetta - again ! Shame I didn't have Rufus in the same room to watch it this time around. Still I enjoyed it.

I could go on for hours about the one liners and fab timing, the stunning scenes and the cute guy in the suit That KISS the car chase, the music............

SPOILER: Click to show

Never mind the suit though I'm with GE2 on the nice bum in his pj's ! I actually said outloud - "nice" then managed to stop myself.

Must dash - a certain green eyed fella is appearing on this morning in 6 minutes

[kygal]

Thanks to Judy...I did get to watch Zen! Only problem was the every 2 second hesitation on my computer. Think it took hours to watch...but I loved what I saw. Had humor, excitement and sexual tension. Not sure I have seen Rufus more handsome...must have been the suit. Aurelio was brilliant and ackward...love him. Hope more eps are picked up!

[lisa]

Oooh thanks Nell, just caught the This Morning interview

[Petruchio - Good God]

Rufus Sewell on BBC Breakfast 31st December 2010

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i7YpP84LCE

[numbat]

Up to 577 guests now - i wonder how many we'll get in the actual 24 hour period since Zen aired ie, 9pm Sun to 9pm Mon? How fascinating!!

And it just goes to show that i'm not the worst one around here, because I was worried about why he was vomiting in the sink, not ogling his ass!!!!

Obviously i need to go back and have another look ;D

[joyceinva]

These two quotes from the official reviews drive me absolutely batty! First the complaint:

I've already bought Sewell as a Venetian – go easy on me.

As I said before, the moment I heard Rufus was cast as Zen I went out and read the Dibdin books. In "Ratking" (the first book) Dibdin gives a very detailed description of Zen. I remember thinking, shocked, OMG, he's described Rufus Sewell to a T. The only difference? Zen has blue eyes.

And then:

...the chief preoccupations of Zen's colleagues seemed to be extra-marital affairs, long lunches and this season's coolest sunglasses.

Ah yeah, that was one of the points of the books. That Zen, alone of his colleagues, was actually interested in doing good, honest police work. One of the running themes of the books is that most of the cops spend the majority of their time running a second business out of the police office.

SPOILER: Click to show

In the books, that's what eventually ruins the relationship between Tania and Zen. She becomes successful running a specialty food mail-order business and he can't handle her success.

I'm not saying that they had to have read Vendetta before reviewing the show, but they should at least have a general idea of the tone of the books. Because Zen stayed very, very, true to the books. Yes, Dibdin's books featured vicious criminals and some pretty graphic violence, but they also contained quite a bit of humor as well. I think Rufus played Zen letter-perfect.

[rueful]

LOL, Numbat! Don't want to rain on your parade, but at least 20 of those past 24 hour visitors were me, coming to the page, then having annoying internet issues that bumped me off. But I guess that still leaves a good amount of others..... so welcome, to anyone who is new!!! ;D

Also, Rufus Sewell was apparently a trending topic on Twitter last night.

As for Vendetta, I agree with the general viewpoint of Zen's mother as younger than expected. In the books his mother, her seemingly diminishing mental capacities, and her heavy furniture were an oppressive weight on Zen's life. In the movie, she was more of a nagging annoyance. However, I can see why they made this change, because of the already mentioned age difference and the generally lighter tone.

When I read they were doing Vendetta first I was a bit surprised. I read the books in order, and I found Vendetta one of the most difficult (but ultimately worth it), because

SPOILER: Click to show

many of the chapters, beginning with the first, were told from Lucia's point of view. And her point of view was quite incoherent at times. It was only after many chapters that I could follow her story. However, by the end of the book, as Joyce said, you did understand her motives and her rage.

So I wondered how they'd handle that. I felt it wasn't entirely successful. I didn't mind the way she was introduced late and from Zen's viewpoint. But I wish she had been introduced more in depth, and that her motives at the end weren't just dismissed with "we'll never know." That seemed kind of an easy way out. I realize with that answer that he was playing coy with the shady govt guy, but it would have been helpful to viewers who haven't read the books to have a clearer idea.

(By the way, I spoilered book info for those who haven't read the books, but not movie info because this is the spoiler thread. If people think movie info should be spoilered, please let me know.)

However, aside from that, I thought it was fantastic! Really, really good. I would have liked it even if someone else had the starring role, truly.

Joyce is right about how well they captured the book's tone--the humor, the violence, the corruption, the game playing--they are all from the books. And Rufus embodied it so well. That final scene with the govt man (did he have a name?), where he says, "I didn't think you had it in you," the look on Rufus's face said so much. People who haven't read the books might have wondered over the course of the movie how it is that someone as seemingly honest as Zen has survived the political environment he's in. But with that one expression, Rufus told it all.

PS Thanks again, Judy! Did you all know that, as it was playing in the UK, it was streaming live on iplayer? I didn't figure that out until it was almost over, so I had to wait until it was put up again, but next week, some of us may get to watch it at the same time as everyone else!