Italian series: 1993

1993 is the direct sequel to the Italian policeke thriller 1992, which came out more than two years ago. In this new series of eight one-hour parts, we follow the collapse of the old political system (the 'First Republic') and the attempts of new politicians to assert their power (the 'Second Republic'). The characters from the first season are back, along with some new ones. Do you remember Luca, Leo, Pietro and Veronica?

The early 90s was a chaotic time in the Italian history. Corruption was rampant and had penetrated deep into the state and political parties. Investigating judge Antonio Di Pietro made it his life's work to bring entrepreneurs and politicians to justice, and in the process also had to deal with the mafia. The operation in which dozens of politicians ended up behind bars and political parties were dissolved, got a name Clean hands (Clean hands).

The trailer of 1993 (with English subtitles):

The characters

The creators of the series about this period have chosen to a few characters to follow, all of which are intertwined in the era in their own way. The most important are Leonardo Notte (played by Stefano Accorsi), an ex-advertiser who is eager to work on Berlusconi's entry into politics, but who is also sent to prison for murder. And then there's Pietro Bosco (Guido Caprino), an alcoholic and a street kid, who makes a career as a politician for the Lega Nord and is confronted with the power games in politics. We also see Veronica Castello (Miriam Leone), who will do anything for a successful TV career, but ultimately feels attracted to Berlusconi's party. The agent Luca Pastore (Domenico Diele) is infected with HIV, but that does not prevent him from getting involved in the case to bring those guilty of corruption to justice. Bibi Mainaghi (Tea Falco) tries to keep her father's company out of trouble, but when she hears that her father did not commit suicide, but was murdered, she decides to cooperate with the law.

Lots of time repeating the events in 1992 is not spent. The storylines pick up right away, where it can be hard to follow what the characters were up to again (especially if you've seen the first series a long time ago).

Forza Italy

Interesting to 1993 is that we are witnessing the rise of Strengths Italy by media executive Silvio Berlusconi. An initiative that nobody really took seriously at the time. 'Berlusca' would then dominate Italian politics for twenty years (and maybe he will continue to do so for a long time yet?).

For lovers of series like House of Cards is this fun. It goes fast, so if you're not that familiar with the Italian politics in this time, it is important to pay attention. But fortunately there is plenty to enjoy even without a special interest in politics: intrigue, betrayal, murder and power, just to name a few.

And all this against the background of the Italian cities of the 90s. It is beautifully filmed with a lot of attention to clothing, cars and accessories that place the story in time. The soundtrack with recognizable music from that time makes it complete.

The series ends with Berlusconi singing the 'national anthem' of Forza Italia among his followers.

I would have liked to have watched the series in high resolution on Blu-ray, but it was – unlike the first part of the series – only available on DVD (and on lumiereseries.com, the distributor's digital platform, here you can watch the first twenty minutes for free).

1993 is a well-crafted series, highlighting an exciting and interesting period of recent Italy. Something different than the series everyone watches on Netflix!

And now it's waiting for 1994, which should complete the trilogy. I am looking forward to it.

1993 – Make Italy Great Again!
director: Giuseppe Gagliardi
Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Tea Falco, Guido Caprino, Miriam Leone, Domenico Diele
480 min.
€ 27,99
Lumiere, August 2017