THEThe past continues to knock on Elio Santamaria’s doorthe protagonist of the series A summer ago broadcast on Sky Atlantic and on NOW with the second episode (episodes 3 and 4). The investigations into Arianna’s death become complicated and the lawyer, in addition to being the main suspect, has to deal with warnings and threats.
A summer agothe plot of the second episode
Elio (Lino Guanciale) continues to investigate the death of Arianna (Antonia Fotaras) and, above all, the summer of 1990. It sets up a real strategy: contact anyone who had dealings with him in those weeks. An amnesia has erased all memories and he needs to understand what happened, however prove that he had nothing to do with the girl’s murder for which he had lost his mind.
At the end of the second episode, received a videotape from an anonymous sender. The envelope features a wave, symbol of the campsite of the same name which is the backdrop to the entire series. Now she looks at the pictures and the surprises begin. The protagonist is Arianna, who dances while looking into the camera and, after a few seconds, he begins to undress.
Then dig deeper and deeper. She contacts Filippo (Giovanni De Giorgi), who was engaged to the girl at the time. As well as meets Lauretta (Anna Ferzetti), Arianna’s other friend together with Costanza (Claudia Pandolfi). Lauretta is reticent, she doesn’t talk much. And in the end she says: «Who really knew Arianna?».
Someone threatens Elio, why?
The cards fall apart one after the other, but Elio doesn’t give up. In the video, Arianna is in a hotel and Elio understands that it is the Hollywood, the guesthouse near the campsite. She always asks Lauretta for information, but once again she glosses over and changes the subject.
Linen Pillow. (F. Di Benedetto)
The first flashbacks arrive. The campsite guests are excited for the Italy-United States match which will be played that same evening and, shortly before the starting whistle, Elio returns to Rome to his father to ask him for the money he needs to get out of a bad problem he has gotten himself into. With him is Arianna, with whom he decides to take a painting hanging on the wall to pay off the debt. Perhaps this framework can provide useful answers.
In the present, Inspector Zancan (Paolo Pierobon) continues his investigations. Contact anyone who has had anything to do with Santamaria and the circle seems to narrow. Actually, the mystery thickens, because the closer we get to the solution, the more the thriller takes new trajectories. It happens, for example, when it goes back to the owner of the car in which the body was found. Meanwhile Elio is increasingly under fire. Everyone’s eyes are on him, except those of Carlo (Alessio Piazza), who has become a priest, who is a point of reference for him.
Filippo Scotti is Elio Santamaria as a young man. (F. Di Benedetto)
To add further pathos, the threats. We begin with the photo of Arianna hanging at the entrance of the villa where she lives with Isotta (Nicole Grimaudo) and her daughter Alice (Ginevra Francesconi), and then continues with a real break-in. Finally, a post-it left on the bulletin board on which she takes note of his investigations. Faced with danger, Isotta asks her husband to immediately contact the police, but Elio prevaricates and takes his time. Why? What are you afraid of?
A summer agoan engaging thriller
Elio Santamaria is a career lawyer of about fifty years. He lives with his wife Isolde and daughter Alice in a villa on the outskirts of Rome. The discovery of Arianna Moretti’s body takes him back in time. It leads a journey backwards along the edge of uncertainty. As he carries out his investigations, memories resurface, flashbacks of what happened. However, we ask ourselves: Did the episodes really happen or are you unconsciously processing false memories?
The question makes the series even more compelling. Bar after bar, in fact, the solution becomes more and more complicated. Everyone is guilty and everyone is innocent. Each character seems to have a valid and very personal reason for hiding the truth. A summer ago it fuels suspicion and keeps the viewer involved until the end credits, in the hope of finding a clue, a flaw, a misstep that will reveal who the murderer is. Instead, he constantly returns to square one. And in this search for the truth, the protagonist’s world collapses piece by piece.
The flashback device is functional in telling the story, using the double narrative track. At the beginning of each episode, however, the floor is given to one of the characters, who tells his version of events, from his point of view. The opening of the third episode is entrusted to Isolde. She explains that her husband is a decent man, abandoned by his friends because they don’t believe his amnesia. «Elio is also a victim», He says. It’s really like this? So who wants to frame him and why?
“One summer ago”, Antonia Fotaras is Arianna. (Sky)
The review of the Sky series with Lino Guanciale
The elements of the thriller emerge scene after scene and the cinematography also helps in this regard. In the present it is all in shades of blue, almost tending towards grey. In the past, however, everything is sunny. A contrast that aims to highlight the contrast between the carefreeness of youth and the difficulties – in this case the tragedy – of adult life.
In the end, the cast. Lino Guanciale is perfect in the role of Elio Santamaria, as are the other actors, starting with Claudia Pandolfi, who portrays a strong-willed Costanza, but with many hidden fragilities. In addition to Nicole Grimaudo, Anna Ferzetti and the other actors already mentioned, the interpretation of Massimo Daiuto (the father Pietro, suffering from Alzheimer’s) and Paolo Pierobonwhich gives life to an inspector with less than canonical but very effective methods.
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