Stu Rai 1 it’s time to period drama. Tonight at 21.25 the first episode of Hotel PortofinoEnglish series in 6 episodes, already broadcast by Sky e set in the 1920s, in one of the most iconic places on the Ligurian Riviera. At the center, the story of a luxury hotel for English only, while we are witnessing the rise of fascism.
Hotel Portofinothe plot of the series
Bella Ainsworth (Natascha McElhonealready in the cast of The Crown 5 as Penelope Knatchbull) she is the daughter of a wealthy English industrialist, who moved to Italy. She is the owner of the Hotel Portofino, located on the Ligurian Riviera, whose clientele is mainly made up of equally wealthy people, belonging to English high society. Every day she juggles the needs of her guests with almost no help from her husband Cecil (Mark Umbers).
The spouse is not interested in the activity e he spends his days squandering the family wealth at the gaming table. They have a daughter, Alice (Olivia Morris), who is always attentive to everyone’s needs, and a son, Lucian (Oliver Dench), who has returned from the First World War. After the experience at the front, his dream is to forget the horror and devote himself to painting, but his father doesn’t agree at all. Instead, he would like him to marry Rose Drummond-Word (Claude Scott-Mitchell), the wealthy daughter of Julia (Lucy Akhurst), his childhood sweetheart.
The series is set in the years in which fascism is on the rise and begins to show its darker side. In addition to the quarrels of the newspaper Bella has to face the deputy mayor of Portofino Vincenzo Danioni (Pasquale Esposito). He is a corrupt politician, a fervent fascist, and determined to ruin the hotel’s image with every means at his disposal.
“Hotel Portofino”, Mark Umbers is Cecil Ainsworth. (Sky)
The previews of the first episode
The first of two episodes airs tonight, titled First impressionsbegins to outline the various characters and the dynamics that animate the Hotel Portofino. Lucian meets Rose for the first time, while Anish, Count Carlo Albani and Lady Latchmere arrive at the hotel. Meanwhile, Bella coaches new staff members, including Constance March, which breaks Lucian’s heart. Furthermore, he receives a letter full of words of love, giving rise to a mystery that will have to be solved later.
Cecil, on the other hand, instead of helping his wife distinguishes himself by creating problems and squandering the estate, also due to the arrival of the art lover Jack Turner. In the second episode, entitled LessonsLucian approaches Rose at his father’s requestbut her mother, Julia, opposes a possible relationship between the two.
“Hotel Portofino”, Natascha McElhone is Bella Ainsworth. (Sky)
It turns out that Lucian has a clandestine relationship with Paola (Carolina Gonnelli), an employee of the hoteljealous because she notices the boy’s interest in Constance. Cecil, then, continues to cause trouble. He invites Danioni, sending Bella into a rage. Again, Lucian befriends Pelham Wingfield (Dominic Tighe), a former tennis champion left without a penny.
In the end, the hotel runs out of supplies. Bella suspects that Danioni is responsible for the non-delivery and decides to face it head-on. To make the atmosphere even more nebulous, the discovery of a trace of blood on the kitchen floor. The victim is Billy Scanlon (Louis Healy), the handyman son of the cook Betty (Elizabeth Scarling), attacked by fascists. To notice it is Bella.
Hotel Portofinoin the cast also Daniele Pecci, Lorenzo Richelmy and Rocco Fasano
Hotel Portofino sees the participation of several Italian actors. Among these stands out Daniele Pecci, who plays Count Carlo Albani, father of Roberto (Lorenzo Richelmy). “He was educated at Oxford and is sort of half English,” she told Live summer life. “Telling the life of that place, through the eyes of these foreigners, Italy of the time is somewhat reflected. Fascism, the first coercions, the first violence, even within this little golden world».
“Hotel Portofino”, Natascha McElhone and Daniele Pecci are Bella and Count Albani. (Sky)
Rocco Fasano, however, is Giovanni Bruzzone, a young anti-fascist, who falls madly in love with Anish Sengupta (Assad Zaman). Constance March (Louisa Binder) is the new nanny of Lottie (Maya Ramadan), aka Alice’s daughter, who falls in love with Lucian.
Lily Frazer as Claudine Pascal Turner, the unscrupulous wife of Jack (Adam James)while Imogen King plays Melissa de Vere, the granddaughter of Lady Latchmere (Anna Chancellor), a woman who lost her son in the war. Hotel Portofino is directed by Adam Wimpenny and is based on the novel of the same name by JP O’Connell. After the debut of the first two seasons on Sky, the third is expected, to be released soon.
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