Tear along the edges: the Zerocalcare series is a gem

Get into the head of Zerocalcare it means dealing with a heap of paranoia which, in comparison, the columns of Malagrotta look like sand dunes. The paranoia, as almost always happens, focus on trifles that the mind transfigures and twists into insurmountable problems, like only the environmental issue discussed at the UN or the crises in Afghanistan faced at the G20. Except, in this case, we are talking about choosing whether or not to order a margherita pizza at the restaurant, whether to leave four or five hours before boarding at the airport or whether or not to be able to change the tire of a car, the ABC of the manual of the alpha male on which patriarchal society is founded. All this is Zerocalcare, and all this is also Tear along the edges, the new Netflix original series which, after its presentation at the Rome Film Fest, finally lands on the platform, dragging us into a mental trip where we laugh and cry, we talk to the heart and belly. All seasoned with the biting irony of a brilliant personality who always comes to terms with himself and who, almost always, is defeated by a confrontation after which he feels inept, inadequate, wrinkled.

The Serie, composed of 6 episodes of about 15 minutes each, therefore recoverable in an hour and a half round round, it speaks, yes, of a story, but also of the many pieces of life that Zerocalcare fans know well thanks to his tables and his works. The pretext of a trip with friends Sarah and Secco to Biella (the reason we are not telling you so as not to spoil the ending) becomes, in fact, an opportunity to reflect on the past and the future, on missed opportunities, on all the hours spent thinking about problems that could be solved with a swipe of the sponge and on the very meaning of an existence marked by what Zerocalcare himself defines “The right to complain”. The viewer, in front of the protagonist’s complaints, laughs, but the truth is that those complaints are reflected, because if there is one thing in which Zerocalcare is very good it is precisely to give space to that internal voice that censors itself in order not to be judged. from others but which, in reality, focuses on the same trifles that make us laugh when someone else experiences them.

The expressive power of the series lies precisely in this self-deprecating and light-hearted mechanism that it makes Tear off along the edges a product that is not only unmissable, but also necessary to reduce the mental trips that we make every day and to remind us not to be alone. Zerocalcare, to the second Michele Rech, gave life and shape to his resources and his inexhaustible imagination: Tear off along the edges is the result of that sometimes painful but profoundly saving introspection in which anyone can identify and which bears the mark of its creator in every frame, in every slurred sentence in Roman which is also its profound stylistic code, enriched by the engravings of Valerio Mastandrea which lends its voice to the Armadillo, that is to the conscience of the protagonist, and to the music of Giancane. We know that Zerocalcare was thrilled to know what the public thought of the series (probably this new trip could give life to a series of its own), and we want to reassure him: dear Michele, you made a masterpiece. Now, however, think about a second season because we are already in abstinence.

The series is produced by Movimenti Production in collaboration with BAO Publishing.