Diego jemio
08/03/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
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Updated 08/03/2021 6:00 AM
There are expressions that wear out with their use, like those cottons that become opaque with washing.
When that happens, the sentences lose their brilliance and, more importantly, their meaning.
Something like this happens with the "cult" complement.
In the world of series, for example, what does it mean?
Is it necessarily better than one that is not?
Is it author television?
Are not all of them, even the most commercial ones made with a formula that is repeated ad nauseam?
Should it be niche or have it had an influence on the general public?
In an ever-expanding panorama of fictions - perhaps as we have never seen before - it
is even more complex to test an accurate definition
.
But all those that received the nickname are similar in two things: they
are a starting point and they nest in their content something that makes them last
.
In these last weeks, something particular happened with
Squats
, which Netflix put on its platform.
It produced a great nostalgia, which in some way gave an account of how it influenced the public in this country.
Almost 21 years have passed since its premiere, but there it is:
unscathed and cruelly current in its fresco of our impoverished Argentina
.
And it is the most viewed on the platform.
In streaming services and channels, you can still find other series, which at the time
became a phenomenon and which stand the test of time with nobility
.
Here is a review - always arbitrary and surely unfair - of
five productions that are worth seeing again
.
Or fall in love for the first time.
The Sopranos
(HBO, available on Flow and DirecTV)
Released in 1999, the series created by David Chase
marks the beginning of something and prevents the downfall of a network like HBO
, which over time became synonymous with quality dramas.
"The Sopranos", a ruthless and fascinating portrait of the mafia.
The story of mobster Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his difficulties in running a home and a criminal organization spells
the beginning of the Golden Third Age of TV series
, as Brett Martin wrote in his book
Difficult Men
.
Chase was determined to make a movie with the story he had in mind, but he
ended up forging a series that changed the way we watch television
.
From its influence -and although
Game of Thrones
later surpassed it in audience-, the series began to have astronomical budgets, a technical invoice typical of cinema and a worldwide popularity that was rare.
With a brilliantly written and acted story and dark plots, the genre was coming of age and
becoming serious by the turn of the century
.
Twin Peaks
(Netflix)
Who said these are productions for people in the television industry?
Who said that a series should only be a series?
Everything is possible if behind the project are
David Lynch and Mark Frost
.
The series, over
three seasons
, tells the story of the murder of a teenage girl named Laura Palmer.
If the world of series became more and more interesting and with complex narratives, this is the great demonstration over the years (the first two seasons are from 1990-1991 and the third just from 2017).
There are 18 episodes, one hour each, of
absolute narrative enjoyment
, with all of Lynch's art at the service of a story.
As with other cult series, it served as inspiration for many others that followed.
The Killing
and
Lost
are just a few of those that took on the legacy.
The Wire
(HBO Go)
"My standard of plausibility is simple and I took it when I started writing narrative:
Fuck the average reader
," David Simon, creator, screenwriter and producer of
The Wire, once said
.
That phrase, perhaps, condenses the spirit -and the main power- of the series, which aired between 2002 and 2008 with
a plot of traffickers and policemen, although the most fair thing would be to highlight his “anti-police” look
. For his years as a journalist , Simon knew the city of Baltimore perfectly and showed it as no one ever did.
In that way, with the old adage of painting your village to build worlds, he made an extraordinary series, a kick to the American dream, with
no room for victories
.
The authenticity of the story in Simon's pen and the casting -formed by some of the true characters that inspired the series- were other successes of a production that, unlike
The Sopranos
and
Mad Men
, won fans step by step .
The Simulators
(Netflix)
"I know a group of people who can help you."
A good percentage of Argentine viewers know that phrase.
And, although almost 20 years have passed since the premiere on Telefe, the actors
Federico D'Elía, Alejandro Fiore, Diego Peretti and Martín Seefeld
still have to answer the million dollar question in the interviews:
are Los Simuladores returning?
Fiore, DÉlía, Peretti and Seefeld, the four of the fine humor of "The Simulators".
In the series created by Damián Szifron, experts in the art of simulation (
Santos, Lamponne, Ravenna and Medina
) solve seemingly mundane issues with exquisite doses of humor.
All in a very Argentine language and
various references: from the Superagente 86 to Agatha Christie, through the Chapulín Colorado and Brigade A
.
Since its premiere, there was a love at first sight with the public.
The rest is known history:
Martín Fierro de Oro, a remake in four countries and the possibility of a film
, which from time to time appears as a high latent.
Fleabag
(Amazon Prime Video)
Cult series are not only the territory of drama and thrillers.
At the 2019 Emmy awards,
the English series took a handful of statuettes
and managed to steal the spotlight from a monster like
Game of Thrones
.
The attraction between the protagonist and the priest.
Memorable moment of the series.
It may be too early to talk about a cult production - the first broadcast is from 2016 - but it became a television phenomenon with equal audience and critical success.
An antihero in her 30s, a script of sharp humor, and well-used narrative devices
, such as the masterful breaking of the fourth wall, are some of her most valuable ingredients.
Its creator,
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
, makes
a comedy that at times hurts for the tragic
.
Short episodes, without an extra scene.
Will it be cult?
Only time and public consumption have the answer.
The list can go on for a long time.
There are those that never made it on television, like
House of Cards
.
The ones that only exploded at the end, like
Breaking Bad
.
And the sitcoms that we never tire of seeing, like
Friends
and
The Office
.
Italo Calvino used to say that a classic is a text that “never finishes saying what it has to say”.
Some of that has the cult series.
And
that's why we love to see them last
.
Look also
The Attaché, the Israeli series about a man in crisis, told in the first person
The series that August brings: the agenda with more than 60 premieres and the arrival of another streaming platform
