Rio Connection Review: Based on real events, the drama series is created by Mauro Lima and co-directed along with Thiago Teitelroit and Toni Vanzolini.The screenplay is written by Chris Salmanpour and Marcelo Starobinas. The cinematography is done by Paulo Vainer for the series which has 8 episodes in total with a runtime of about 45-5- minutes.
The ensemble cast of the series includes Valerio Morigi as Tommaso Buscetta, Aksel Ustun as Lucien Sarti, Raphael Kahn as Fernand Legros, Marina Ruy Barbosa as Ana, Carla Salle as Maria Christina, Maria Casadevall as Lilly, Renata Sorrah as Cassandra, Nicolas Prattes as Giovanni Nicola, Bruno Gissoni as Bruno Legere, Rômulo Arantes Neto as Frederick, Aryé Campos as Amanda Singleton, João Cortesas Alberto Martim, Felipe Rochaas Michel Niccolli, Brian Townes as Agent Peter Walsh, Alexandre David as Detective Heraldo Batista and others.
-Rio Connection Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
Set in Rio in the 1970s, Rio Connection tells the story of European criminals who established Brazil as a crucial point on the heroin trafficking route to the United States. After three important mafiosi were pursued by American and Italian and French authorities, the traffickers found in Rio the right environment to strengthen a lucrative and dangerous business, thus tropicalizing the traditional mafia.
The series starts off with Tommaso or Roberto Felice meeting up with Lucien Sarti & Fernand Legros to finalise their deal to transport heroin to the US cartels. What they are essentially doing is buying heroin from other places for comparatively less amounts & then selling it to their client & making exorbitant amounts of money from it.
While they always have the perfect plan, things don’t work out as they intend to, as they can never trust the person working with them or when the police might catch them in the act. But by going through all the troubles together, the three form a kind of business partnership that is fail-proof. Yet the question remains if each one is loyal enough to the others.
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Although the story, which is inspired by real events and has been fictionalised for dramatic purposes, has an intriguing plot – it felt a bit too long. What I like about the series is how each character is not such an evil or notorious person doing brutal things all the time. They seem like ordinary everyday people with empathy & compassion, however, not exactly good guys as they are equally twisted as well.
They aren’t just one dimensional but how they interact with different people around them and how their stories progress, will make you stay till the end. My qualms remain that once establishing the characters & what they are doing together, the creators took a lot of time to reach the ultimate end. In the middle, you start to wonder where is it going or if it will keep going around in the same circles.
The character of Officer Amanda Singleton was that one character who felt a bit annoying to watch & looked like going on a single track. Given that she was the closest to finding the intel on all the criminals, all she does is sit & talk around with Fernand without doing much. I expected her character to be much more & at the forefront of taking action, especially after getting disposed of once.
Rio Connection Review: Final Thoughts
Overall it was a fairly good series with some commendable performances by the actors. The pacing was slow though if you like to watch shows that take you on a journey showing every small, sometimes even insignificant detail, then you might like it. What I really enjoyed is the relationship between Fernand & his partners/family. It was strange & unconventional yet wholesome to watch.
Rio Connection is currently streaming on SonyLIV.
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