I highly recommend this series! Suburra: Blood on Rome IMDB
A story of crime, passion, Sicilian Mafia, drugs, Gypsies, murder, the power of the Vatican, the power of crime lords, and corrupt politicians. Those terms all seem synonymous, even passion. Controlling Rome is paramount to all these factions.
This series was, as you can well imagine, is extremely violent. Every one seems corrupt, and if they aren’t in the beginning of the story, the characters all seem to cross over to the dark side eventually.
The one thing that drove me to watch this entire series, was the acting, and the plot, though seemingly implausible at times, but what do I know of these sort of evils and totally morally corrupt sordid types?
I’ve never seen a depiction like this of the Gypsies or Roma. I knew there was prejudice everywhere against them, but as the Sicilian Mafia, they too have a code of conduct. However, that code seems to be widely interpreted at times by all of them.
There are three main characters; ; one is from a successful Roman crime family,
Alessandro Borghi – Actor
- Aureliano Adami – Character
one is a cop’s son,
Eduardo Valdarnini – Actor
- Gabriele Marchilli or Lele – Character
and, one is from an aspiring Gypsy crime family,
Giacomo Ferrara _ actor
- Alberto ‘Spadino’ Anacleti – Character
I loved the character that played Spadino! A character who has a unique personality, body language and expressions. I was howling at some of his gestures and attitude. I also felt for his struggle as a gay man in a rigid family and where most of society being gay is totally unacceptable.
These three young men aspire to take over the crime business in Rome. There unlikely friendship is what drives this unusal series. It also shows a bond that goes beyond their highly different backgrounds. It is formidable and quirky. There is a definite Platonic love story between the three of them. Whatever the connection is, it is to the death, either theirs or even people within their own families.
The personalities of each of these characters is not only what drives the storyline, but it solidifies our interest in their lives. How is it, that I am rooting for these three murderers, drug lords, and morally deficient people? It is their relationship that ties me to them, and to one another.
The corruption seems like a drug, once you have a little you want more. Once their moral compasses were compromised, the easier it got to commit even more loathsome crimes. This series shows too, that one can get into a hole by seemingly obscure happenings, you can get into it deeper and deeper without a way to get yourself out. Once the characters get caught in a quagmire of murder and deceit, the only way to deal with it is by the three counting on one another to survive and hopefully thrive as forces to be reckoned with.
SUBURRAETERNA is the sequel. I started to watch it, but it seems repetitive, and since it is not with the three actors together, it seemed like something significant was missing. I might continue watching it, but right now I am taking a break from it.
The corruption and crime all the characters inflict in Suburra: Blood on Rome, is enough to make one’s head spin! I loved Rome when I visited, but after seeing this series, I was wondering how safe it would be for me to go once again. Oh what the heck, when in Rome do as the Romanians do!
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