El Decameron Review: A Classic Reimagined in a Pandemic Parody

One of the first scenes Decameron sets the tone for this eight-part Netflix miniseries. The episode features a dead crow, a barefoot corpse, and a child laughing with joy at the sight of both, all set against the radiant, idyllic landscape of Florence in 1348. This first glimpse of what’s to come—and what the production heralds as the beginning of the Black Death—reveals two things. On the one hand, the plot adapts the twisted sense of humor of an immortal medieval Italian work. On the other, it takes the idea of ​​combining irony and tragedy, as the original work did, very seriously.

It’s a risky bet, of course. The series, like the book on which it’s based, tells the story of a group of nobles who try to escape death in a luxurious villa. It does so against the backdrop of a sense that things could soon spiral out of control. At worst, like a plague killing off those trying to survive on a rich pension. At best, they might finally overcome the terror between sex, scandalous humor and a long list of intrigues.

Decameron It might seem like a dull proposition, were it not for the fact that Sarah Stoker and Zoe Jarman’s script does something unexpected. Gradually complex, provocative and downright mocking, the situations don’t seek to parody the original book, but to the recent coronavirus pandemicin which the production focuses on the vision of its decadent, clumsy and frivolous characters.

Decameron depicts a group of aristocrats at the end of the world

Little by little, and especially from the second chapter, Decameron This doesn’t hide the fact that every man and woman outside the walls seems to be a mockery of how to deal with an event that surpasses them. Which most obviously ties the series to the global lockdown that occurred a few years ago. But the setup isn’t obvious when you dig deeper into its premise. so it’s more than just a joke told in an exotic setting.

Decameron uses its vision of disaster and fear to tell a dramatic comedy that quickly turns dark. In fact, one of the amazing things about Netflix’s new production is its ability to make people laugh and move easily. It would be much better to use the dynamics of characters telling a story in turns and get something deeper. Imagine the end of time, which the characters are sure will come, as a last chance to return to life, love, and even defeat. All through different stories that each character tells out loud.

Fear, Desire and Humor

Dynamics Decameron allows it to operate in two scenarios. One is the constant sense of satire mixing with a mocking view of privilege. After all, his characters are surrounded by luxury, servants and beauties, while they know that death is destroying everything around them. It is inevitable to draw comparisons between the magnificent, luxurious surroundings in which various figures complain of fear or pain, with the way many celebrities have responded to the pandemic. Especially when the production does it with a subtle sense of the absurd.

The other is one that explores what seems to be a collective trauma. The series has the ability to show Florence very close to the final catastrophe and reflecting on its mistakes. But it does so without regret or concern. Rather, it is an extravagant party that extends in all directions and which the proposal presents as a mosaic of frivolity and even human cruelty. Therefore Decameron It makes no claim to be historically accurate (it isn’t) and is not a proper review of the book. Regardless of the comparisons, this is an independent story that subtly reveals its own complexities.

Not so dark, not so sexy

Perhaps it is precisely because Decameron spends a lot of time making fun of its lovable, ridiculous, and trivial characters, the series loses some of its ability to surprise. By the third chapter, you can pretty accurately predict what the pace will be like from here on out. Likewise, it ends up wasting obvious a parallel between the ten carefree central characters and modern celebrities.

Although it is never boring, it is not enough Decameron not be as bold and daring as it promises. Although there are various sex scenes, innuendos and obscene jokes, everything remains on the surface. Especially when it repeatedly hints that it will break a taboo or shock the viewer. But although the stories shown on the screen range from murders to traps, lies and social manipulations of all kindsbackground knows little.

More interested in making people laugh than in learning (which is not always achieved), Decameron It’s a mixture of many things that aren’t clear. Is it a combination of mockery of consumer society and fear of death, as your argument suggests? Or does it point to man’s capacity for clumsiness and meanness in the worst situations? The series doesn’t answer any of these questions, leaving its plot in an uncomfortable, uncertain terrain. That’s the biggest problem with a plot that could have been one of the year’s greatest satires but opts to be a low-key mockery.