“Losing Alice”: the new Apple TV + series is a female thriller not to be missed

The women behind the camera, those who move the strings of large productions trying to reconcile work with family, are among the most interesting figures that the star-system has at its disposal, it is just a pity that they are rarely told and with a a certain listlessness, as if deliberately ignoring the human potential of which they are guardians. The figure of the director continues, in fact, to be associated with an essentially male dimension, perhaps thinking that the man has more charisma and coolness in handling the stress and strain of a set than a woman (it is no coincidence, after all, that Hollywood has given the Oscar for Best Director to a woman only once throughout its history).

This was the drive that led Sigal Avin, brilliant Israeli author, to shoot a series that has as its protagonist a female director grappling with a mammoth project to be realized, called not to lose control of herself or of life apparently perfect that she keeps in her house with anodized glass in the heart of the upper districts of Tel Aviv. The series is called Losing Alice, will be available from January 22 on Apple TV + and is among the most sought after and innovative products that we will see on TV in 2021. Through a series of suggestions that, by Avin’s own admission, evoke the dreamlike atmospheres of David Lynch and the palpable tension of Alfred Hitchcock’s mysteries, Losing Alice starts from the fortuitous meeting between a faded author and a young and talented screenwriter.

On board a train, in fact, Alice (Ayelet Zurer), a 48-year-old woman with several blockbuster films, meets Sophie (Lihi Kornowski), an aspiring screenwriter who sees her as an idol despite Alice experiencing a moment of great creative crisis. «Per Alice, sitting at your desk and not being able to write anything is something very similar to death “ explains in connection Zurer, capable of restoring to the protagonist all the complexity of an artist that is not at all obvious: thanks to the meeting with Sophie, in fact, Alice decides to take up the profession again and direct the film that will be based on that script that Incidentally, she has already hired David (Gal Toren), Alice’s husband, one of the most sought-after actors in Israeli cinema, as the protagonist. The joy of getting back into the game and moving away from the house that was beginning to be close to her, however, leads Alice into a labyrinth poisoned by suspicion and doubt.: Who is Sophie really, why does the story she wrote – a drama about a love triangle between two best friends and one of their father’s – seems to have such dark connections to reality? In a mix of influences that evoke now Eve versus Eve and now What I don’t know about her by Polanski, Avin stages a psychological thriller of rare beauty based on the mysterious relationship of two very different women, one close to 50 and the other in their prime, united by a morbid obsession that will lead Alice to a point of I don’t return.

“I wanted to show the link between paranoia and the dynamics of the domestic life of a liberal family” explains Sigal Avin, underlining how masculine and feminine are one of the strongest themes of his work: “When a woman comes home after a day on set, she may find that the children haven’t had dinner and that she has to provide for their needs.: something that does not apply to men ”, insists the director putting her hands on possible autobiographical references of her experience as a director in the character of Alice. “There are aspects of me in different characters in the series, but I was very free to write and direct what I felt inside of me: in the end I was amazed at the result myself, I did not think I was able to write a something like that »adds Sigal who, like the protagonist, fears the crisis of inspiration more than anything in the world. “As a writer and director, I’m always afraid of losing inspiration. Sometimes it can happen that you have a block, it happens that you try hard and you can’t come up with any ideas. My husband always says that my mood in the morning always depends on what I write the night before: if things didn’t go as I hoped, I risk becoming a monster ».

The insecurities and paranoia of Alice, who struggles every day not to lose her head and try to maintain her integrity both as a professional and as a woman, probably would not have had the same impact if someone other than someone else had been playing the role. Ayelet Zurer. «The first time I saw her at the audition it was incredible: I was really excited because Ayelet is one of the greatest actresses we have in Israel. In the end I asked her to take a selfie together because I was really honored to work with her, ”explains Lihi Kornowski, the actress who lends her face to the exuberant Sophie, with almost childlike enthusiasm. And to think that, if it hadn’t been for his mother’s broken elbow, Zurer would never have agreed to take part in the series: “After trying some scenes with Sigal on Skype I immediately realized that it wasn’t for me because I can’t work if not in contact with people. Some time later my mother came to see me in the United States, but she broke her elbow: we are, therefore, rushed back to Israel and, while I was in the hospital, Sigal wrote to me to ask if I was there. I saw it as a sign of destiny: we met in person and I accepted the role “ says Zurer with a smile. «Ayelet was the missing piece» intervenes Sigal before talking about the delicate theme of the female point of view within his work. “That’s the only point of view I have. I drew inspiration from several male authors such as Lynch, Hitchcock and Polanski, but also from Jane Campion and the eroticism of her Piano lessons: I think it is important for a director to take inspiration from the models he grew up with “points out Avin before Zurer intervenes: “I believe that a male writer and director can write beautiful female characters, but at the same time I am convinced that Sigal has created a series in which it tells perfectly what it means to be a woman today, divide between the role of mother, director, wife, and small daily chores, such as shopping and preparing for a première ». The personal conflict, the mixture between dream and reality and the skilful game of Chinese boxes – in the series we see actors acting in the role of actors who lend their faces to a character – make Losing Alice a little cult of the genre. The marital crisis, the bond with the parental figure, jealousy, envy and sex are the ingredients of a very refined thriller which, with its cold photography and a small tribute to Italian culture (in the last episode we hear, in fact, a famous song by Adriano Celentano However, we do not reveal the name), Avin demonstrates not only that well-prepared dramas are never the prerogative of a man, but also that a woman is able to elevate them to new and not at all obvious interpretations.