Un professore

The original Catalonian series, Merlí was a conversation about philosophical insights dampening the difficult rites of passage into commonplace adulthood. The Italian version we see is surely from the artist's studio, but the opportunity to enrich the original Catalonian series did not materialize. The Italian version is sanitized and ho-hum. Diluted in many ways. Merlí was grit and guts. Nearly every student was a psychological and sexual coming-of-age story that could be raw or even embarrassing to watch. Note: The original Merlí is better than the U. S. Netflix version and worth seeking out.

Such a disappoinment, Ity is still a conservative when it comes to gay scenes, they always show more of the heterosexuals love team, an intimate gay scene was cut short... messy storyline. The Professor didn't even live up to Merlí's chaotic character.

In a similar spirit with another recent RAI series, "La compagnia del cigno", this one covers the troubles of youth as they get help from adults who use a touch of their own teaching field. So, not music but philosophy this time around.

In some way, most examples of this genre borrow from "The Blackboard Jungle", however times have changed so much that those essential story arcs are now less visible, under camouflage as teens and mid-aged people are much less divided by school hyerarchy.

One thing I liked about the show is how well the "secret story" of the two boys are buried in. At first it looked like the writers were going to gay them up, or do so at least with the teacher's son, but the introduction of that secret, shared past (something involving a transplant maybe?) gave hope about a more fresh plot.

As for Gassman: He is a fine actor. Yet, I think he is overworking. One series after another, and movies in-between, that kind of pace reduces his profile to that of a "showman" who has just too much on his plate to deliver the best possible. Of course he is convincing enough, but when one's length of beard and wardrobe remains fixed regardless of him playing a wild cop, a philosophy teacher or some fun guy, one loses that essential, "visual" aspect of "getting into character". If I were him, and if I really really had to show up in every single one of these productions, I'd ask the producers to make sure that I'd "look different" with regards to who I was portraying.

The opening night of the series showed that it has the potential to attract attention, at least from the very same base that watched "La compagnia del cigno", and can get a score around 6,5-7,5.

That is, despite the unusually dull name they picked for the series. "A Teacher". What? No one had a better idea? Sigh...

The plot revolves around relevant themes that are barely described and explored in depth.

The first season is quite interesting, although the sexual aspect is not adequately addressed. A main character's sexuality is not fully investigated.

The second season is poorly written, the characters do many things inconsistent with their personalities, and LGBT issues are known to be there but not to be explored in depth.

In conclusion, while the story introduces interesting themes, the lack of depth on crucial topics and inconsistent character development compromise the overall quality of the plot.

Although the series is not available in English, I managed to watch it with subtitles and it was well worth the effort.

It starts like a more typical coming of age story, but soon you'll notice the story developing to much more than that.

Set against the backdrop of Rome (that looks remarkably quiet and green) we follow the story of a philosophy teacher and his students. Although you could question the professors (romantic and parenting) choices, you feel the love for his profession and students in every single class he teaches about the great philosophers and it will make you look back to some of your teachers and wish you had more teachers like him.

The young actors show some remarkable talent but the series is really carried by Alessandro Gassmann and Damiano Gavino who really make their characters come to life.

If you appreciate a teenagers coming of age story against the beautiful decor of Rome, waved into a Philosphy lesson brought to live by a crazy teacher, you'll binge this series for sure.