After autumn in the name of
The Crown
, another costume television series set in the Regency period of the first half of the 19th century is a great success:
Bridgerton
, launched at Christmas on Netflix and immediately among the top ten in the world.
Why is it talked about so much?
The trailer alone had over 580,000 views on Youtube and the same number on Twitter.
Here are 5 things to know + 1: the second season officially confirmed on January 21 with a video announcement that also launches the next protagonist character: Lord Anthony Bridgerton
Bridgerton is a
Shondaland
production
, the American company of Shonda Rhimes, the author of such hits as Grey's Anatomy and Scandal.
The signature is by Chris Van Dusen Practice, his longtime collaborator.
Rhimes is at the first collaboration with Netflix and for the occasion he switches to the historical series while maintaining his signature:
romance, female characters brought to the fore
and mystery.
The Bridgertons Chronicle (the international title)
was filmed in England in the city of Bath
, the birthplace of Jane Austen's novels, and is one of eight projects Shonda Rhimes is currently working on.
The pedigree of breed
Between "Gossip Girl" and "Downton Abbey"
The atmosphere of English castles, the rustle of the wonderful dresses in the color in vogue at the time, the powder blue, the gossip, the scandals: Bridgerton captures the viewer by bringing him, even in a vintage story, in a world of Gossip Girl, cell phones excluded.
The protagonists are rich, attractive and their love stories intertwine and cause havoc at the court.
Even within that type of society, subtle high-class struggles take place, with characters in search of social escalation, of respectability.
Young women, educated in every formality, have only one purpose: to find a husband and possibly of superior nobility, as for young nobles unhappiness is assured if the heart beats for a working class woman.
Having a marriage of high lineage and love at the same time is like winning the lottery.
The mysterious Lady Whistledown - whose identity we do not know until the penultimate frame of the first season - feeds her newspaper with these secrets, divulging private facts.
This time we leave the early twentieth century of Downton Abbey to land in the London of the
Regency, an era that goes from 1795 to 1837. A period of excess for the British aristocracy
, with all that follows in terms of costumes, furnishings, gorgeous parties.
A series inspired by the novels of Julia Quinn
To inspire the series of Shondaland is the saga, published between 2000 and 2016, written by the American
Julia Quinn
, author of dozens of award-winning novels and translated into more than thirty languages and is composed of eight novels, the first of which 'The Duke and I' is the basis of the first season.
All the novels have been republished in Italy by
Oscar bestsellers
(the first three titles are: The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me, The Proposal of a Gentleman. In the course of 2021 the other five books will be released: A man to conquer, To Sir Philippe with love, To love a libertine, Everything in a kiss, True love exists. Each of the volumes contains, in addition to the novel, the second epilogue written by the author years later).
The story takes place between 1813 and 1827
and tells the stories of the
eight children of Viscount Bridgerton
: the eldest son Anthony, then Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and little Hyacinth.
In this first season we follow
Daphne Bridgerton
, played by
Phoebe Dynevor
, the eldest of marriageable age.
When her brother rejects her suitors, London's high society tabloid newspaper, run by the mysterious Lady Whistledown, spreads slander about the young woman.
Daphne therefore has to juggle her public image and her attraction to
the handsome Duke of Hastings,
a bachelor sought after by all debutante mothers, rebellious and with a past of great inner suffering.
Although the two pretend to be engaged for different reasons, the sparks fly ...
An inclusive casting
It can be said that Bridgerton is one of the first series resulting from the inclusive agreements recently launched in Hollywood to make cinema more egalitarian, in terms of the topics covered and in the choice of actors.
After having favored white actors for a long time, casting directors now rely on profiles from all backgrounds, in spite of anachronisms.
While the role of Daphne Bridgerton was entrusted to a white actress, other characters are played by people of color and at the highest levels of the social ladder.
This is how Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), the handsome Duke of Hastings, played by
Regé-Jean Page, originally from Zimbabwe,
is black
.
Forerunner of a wave of films defined as 'colorblind' in which skin color is not taken into account in the choice of actors (there is a Mary Queen of Scots with Gemma Chan, a Story by David Copperfield with Dev Patel, for example ).
Who is Lady Whistledown?
Among the positive side effects of the diffusion of streaming platforms is the possibility of seeing the productions in original. Although it is yellow about the identity of the columnist who shakes London, know that the voice of Lady Whistledown, who reads the events of the British aristocracy, is
Julie Andrews
.
