Zen (My rating: 5)
A Gem from the Vault
Rufus Sewell – seen most recently in the Netflix series The Diplomat – plays Commissario Aurelio Zen. Based on books by Michael Dibdin, Zen’s Italy is very much akin to Donna Leon’s version in her excellent Commissario Brunetti books set in Venice. (Interestingly, Zen himself comes from Venice.) It’s an Italy where everyone is on the take if not outright corrupt and where money equals political power and vice versa. While there are no English language TV versions of Brunetti, Zen is in English and filmed beautifully in Rome and elsewhere in Italy. Makes me think of traveling there again.
BBC cancelled the show during its first run in 2011 on the basis of there already being enough male TV detectives at large (the same dumb mistake made by ITV in 2007 when it cancelled Foyles War, though in this case that show was sensibly brought back). WGBH co-produced the show and ran it on PBS Masterpiece Mystery.
Sewell is not Italian but, perhaps due to his Welsh mother, has the dark, soulful look that fits the role perfectly. His Zen is smart. He doesn’t make small talk and listens closely. A good detective, but without the flashes of genius more typical of the genre, Zen knows how Italy works. He flows with events, navigating past the many traps laid down from all corners and taking advantage of whatever fortuna throws his way. He gets to the truth no one may really want. He is also that rare thing, an honest Italian cop working in a Rome that challenges him to remain such. His reputation as incorruptible ironically invites constant disaster. It draws him to the attention of the fixer for the Justice Minister who needs to use Zen’s reputation, if not the actual honesty that goes with it. In one episode, two sides want him to solve the crime while a powerful third one does not (in order to hide the existence of a secret organization formed from the Catholic Church and the Italian elite). In another, he uncovers the cheating and hatred among the rich. Somewhat shy, Zen does get the girl that all the other detectives want, the lovely Caterina Murino who plays Chief Moscati’s secretary.
The three 90 minute episodes made in 2011 are drawn from the Ratking, Cabal and Vendetta novels. They are a pleasure to watch (available on Britbox) and merit a rating of five. It was very silly to not renew the series. I’ll have to read the books.