Glória

Gloria is a slow burning espionage tv show which takes place in Portugal during the 1960's. By then it was still ruled by a fascist dictatorship and was mainly a county with a very outdated culture, a society where amongst the poorer people women had no liberty and even on higher society stratuses we could witness something similar . The story shows much of that culture and time, but it's also a very good espionage story , with crime, suspense, intrigue and some action.

Acting is appropriate, I wouldn't say it's superb , but it doesn't fall below par ... and the story is very engaging, I found myself very curious on knowing what would happen next . Yes, it's a bit on the slower pace but that's perfectly fine for me, a person who loved the slow paced True Detective show.

Gloria deserves some praise because it comes from a country of a very old movie culture which unfortunately was dominated by tedious and ethereal films during some decades . I hope this is the first of many Portuguese tv shows in Netflix because it doesn't fall short in any department when compared with similar shows from other countries .

This first Portuguese Netflix series is a very clever production effort, with a decent casting and a good cinematography.

However, there are several things that could have contributed for a better final product:

• The script is not as bad as some users have written here, but there is a lot of room form improvement it that department..

• The lack of accuracy or basic common sense in ever scene featuring uniforms and ranks;

• João Vidal was an army officer in the war in Angola but he is always depicted as a foot soldiers.

• The scenes with the GNR (wrongly subtitled as military police) are pathetic to the point where you have a foot soldier issuing orders to a 1st Sargent in the prison escape scene.

• Even the way how the army solders and GNR troopers carry their G3 rifles is wrong!

• Not to mention the GNR's uniforms.. oh man!

-A simple technical advisor could have done magic for the accuracy of all those visual and historical details.

Anyway, having said that, I liked the show. I am Portuguese and I am proud and happy to see my country honestly trying to step up and create a decent TV series. The aforementioned details are just that; details that could have been handled properly.

Finally, it's really sad to see how some of my Portuguese brothers and sisters come just to mock and demean when if fact we should all be at least a bit proud.

In 1968 the Cold War is at its height with East and West vying for victory. As part of the propaganda war the Americans operate RARET, a broadcasting facility at Glória do Ribatejo in a remote corner of Portugal. At the time Portugal isn't democratic but has a fascist government. This government is staunchly anti-communist; largely due to their support those fighting for independence in Portugal's African colonies.

Centre of the story is João Vidal, a Portuguese engineer at RARET. He is the son of a government minister but we soon learn he was recruited by the Soviets while serving in Angola. When a translator is found dead shortly after an important tape that had been prepared for broadcast disappears James Wilson, the facility's American boss becomes concerned that the Communists have infiltrated the base. João's life is further complicated when he gets involved with a woman whose fiancé is serving in Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau).

I really enjoyed this Netflix series. It beautifully captures the '60s aesthetic and the feeling of Cold War paranoia. The story isn't rushed but doesn't feel too slow. Many characters are fairly ambiguous. Protagonists, including João, are shown to do things that most people would judge unacceptable. Events are shown in a fairly matter of fact way leaving viewers to decide the rights and wrongs of the various politics. There isn't a huge amount of action but what there is is well staged and exciting. The cast does a solid job bringing their characters to life; this includes both Portuguese and American actors. The finale leaves many questions unanswered so hopefully theer will be further seasons Overall a solid Cold War drama that is well worth watching if you are interested in the era and are looking for something a little different.

This is a well set, well cast show with a semi believable plot. The characters are all well played. Someone has gone to great effort to get the clothing and the cars right. It's not quite so accurate on the technical details. Sabotaging the transmitter by opening a door and defeating an interlock is not possible. The interlock can be defeated but the transmitter will have gone off the moment the door opens. Then be restarted. Such offs generally trigger alarms. Frequency hopping is a little more complicated and was generally achieved by running several frequencies simultaneously. As long as you have more transmissions than the Russians have Jammers the signal will get through. I am keen to know which site was used for the exterior shots. The Gloria site has been dismantled. Technical details aside it's a good story and shows people as they are especially in a somewhat remote site.

Excellent writing, directing, acting, cinematography and production design AND sound which is rather rare nowadays.

As others mentioned it before, the atmosphere and aesthetic of the time are masterfully captured and portrayed. Very solid acting - great to watch and follow all characters. Even the smallest roles deliver and add greatly to the overall picture.

Highly recommended. Also, if one searches a bit one can find lots of information on the net about the history of this facility, obviously run by the CIA with the usual obscure objectives.