Difficult today to have missed the frenzy True Detective. After a first season having echoed the continuation of an investigation in the depths of the bayou of New Orleans, between Hollywood actors at the top (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the lead) and sticky atmosphere, the HBO channel has seen fit to decline a second time its concept. No more swamps of Louisiana, and place the urban and infamous suburbs of Vinci, industrial city (fictitious) of California, which will see once again, an unsolved murder take dramatic proportions.
In view of the critical return simply murderous, and taking advantage of the release of said season at the end of January, we thought to the editorial staff that it would be nice to remind you of the genius of this anthology and why this failure encountered by the low audiences is as incomprehensible as disappointing. So, we give you 5 good reasons to rub shoulders with this series, which if it is not as publicized as Game of Thrones or House of Cards, is well worth a look.
A rave cast.
Colin Farell (Alexandre, Bon Baisers de Bruges), Rachel McAdams (Il Etait Temps, Spotlight), Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball, La Rupture) and Taylor Kitsch (Battleship, John Carter) and Kelly Reilly (Flight, l'Auberge Espagnole) Few series today can boast of displaying such headliners. Undoubtedly well helped by a short format (this season displays only 8 episodes on the clock), the series is nevertheless the perfect opportunity to see some actors play against employment and especially try the television format that continues to grow. We will think of Vince Vaughn, a major figure of US comedy, trying here a much more dramatic role, the American playing here the role of a businessman a bit mafia and sometimes expeditious violence.
A rich script and much richer than the rest of US television production.
At a time when American series shine by their ability to arouse interest by punctuating almost all their episodes with odious cliffhangers and unsophisticated narrative developments, it is rare to be able to count on series taking the tangent of this model. And that's precisely what makes True Detective's salt. Not content to rush into a genre already well ploughed by US cinema, in this case, the thriller / thriller, the scenario fortunately takes precedence to this style and draws on the pool of the filmography of Guy Ritchie and more indirectly Quentin Tarantino, by displaying a complex scenario, with a diffuse chronology and many reversals of situations. And suffice to say that with this ballet of characters with diverse motivations and all struck by this murder that obsesses them, we remain admiring the work of Nic Pizzolatto, showrunner of the show and true cornerstone of the project. who continues to establish himself as one of the best writers on US television.
Images and a sense of the frame to make moviegoers swoon.
Given the production imperatives to which all cable series must submit, it is sometimes regrettable to see a series rich in its script, not embrace a similar quality on the visual level. Fortunately, True Detective knows how to overcome this lack at all times by showing a neat staging. After the suffocating hell of the first season, brilliantly personified by the humidity and wetness of the surrounding marshes, we were a little afraid that the series would lose this atmosphere, as soon as it is affixed to the arid bitumen of California. And tirelessly, the series continues to prove us wrong. Although we can regret a change of director over the episodes, which really prevents the series from adopting an atmosphere similar to the first season, this 2015 vintage manages to impress by the quality of its plans, easily denouncing the company in all its complexity and opacity.
A classy soundtrack.
By hiring T-Bone Burnett, producer and musician recognized in the United States and in particular close collaborator on the musical level of the Coen brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), as much to say that the production has hit a big blow. Throbbing, almost oppressive music, the music, like the role it played in the first season, is one of the key characters of the show, arriving with grace to account for the melancholy infusing the images. We come to understand that the city of Vinci, certainly fictitious, is a barely veiled representation of present-day California, a paradise for some but which has nothing to envy to hell. Funny credo that followed to the letter the musician, who for the credits chose a music by Leonard Cohen, Nevermind, another big name of the American music scene with a deep and very fatalistic voice. As a reminder, here is the music of the fantastic credits of this season 2:
Irrefutable proof that the gap between cinema and television is narrowing.
We said it above, but True Detective is one of the major television series of recent years. Whether by the quality of its writing or the performance of its actors, the series proves that the image of lame duck attached until then to television productions is slowly disappearing. And in that, this season is important because it allows informed people to see the mutation of television, which unsurprisingly, is now squinting towards the middle of cinema, whether by the choice of shots or the actors chosen.
Trailer:
For information, the series is available on DVD / Blu-Ray from January 27 is to be credited from the studio Warner Bros, which had the logic to offer box sets also including the first season. An opportunity not to be missed.
