There are some people who have the innate ability to connect with other humans, to touch the strings deeper in their souls, to get straight to their emotional trigger. It is the gift of great communicators, sympathizers, those who search in every little detail about themselves and others and can only live by putting their gift at the disposal of an art form.
Zerocalcare is one of those, one of those who speak the language of people with simplicity, clarity and unsettling truth. And the truth, even through the cartoons that move in front of the screen, are seen in their entirety, they are in demand as spectators, and they are as necessary in the narrative imagination as in life. And this is how these few suffice Characters we know Indeed, Limestone, Sarah, Sico, Armadillo, Alice and all those paranoia we still encounter, as well as the protagonist of this series, thirty years later, the mere banality of everyday life, the bad luck of a crooked day past, the descriptive peculiarity of the Roman dialect, the realization that in the end there is no An answer to existential questions but there is only life itself and the warmth of the people around us. This is enough to feel good.
Cut along the edges It’s a simple, straightforward series, it’s like pop songs that seem to say nothing but then tell you everything you need and there’s not even a need for a plot that knows how linear and cohesive it is because life itself doesn’t have such a linear direction, after all, as Zerocalcare teaches us, it’s just a dotted line cut along the edges that never leave a perfectly defined shape. This series talks about life as it is, without meaning, without explanation, without coherence and reasonableness. Zerocalcare managed to entertain the audience by ruminating wandering into Bojack Horseman, He drags him into his mind and makes him debate his conscience and his self-destructive thoughts, entertains him with a stupid joke, and then the next moment, takes him back into the deep abyss. This series is an emotional climax and goes from typical “Roman” irony to moments of extreme seriousness that lead to contemplation of the meaning of life.
The six episodes of Cut along the edges It’s also filled with countless quotes from ’90s/90s pop culture, and it almost becomes a mental exercise in trying to find them all, from Tiziano Ferro to mother as a friendGive The Handmaid’s Tale a How do I meet your mother And for those who have grown up over the years, Zerocalcare’s animated series has become a journey through time, a romantic journey back in time but also a great comfort to the heart.
Here, Zerocalcare has the power to comfort people by orchestrating that paranoid, insecure, envious, thoughtful, selfish part that no one wants to show themselves because it is considered something to be ashamed of. But the dark and “ugly” sides must be recognized and brought to light as well. And that’s how the animated series is enough to make us feel less alone because someone else, somewhere else in the world, just like us, struggles to show that they paint their lives to perfection but then our eye falls on the paper and it’s full of cracks. However, hand-torn edges, even if you try to follow the dotted line, will inevitably have some smudges so you can show them off as well and keep them.
Netflix’s new Zerocalcare animated series can only convince in its manufacturing flaws because it shows life as it is, without real meaning but with human warmth with human warmth. Along the way the beauty lies in this.
Rating: 8
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