The mafia and the TV presenter

Enzo Tortora (1928-1988) was an Italian journalist who hosted the television program Portobello in 1977. Millions of households in Italy watched his entertainment show every night, which also organized auctions and social initiatives for charity. From prison, many inmates also watched his program, among them Giovanni Pandico and Pasquale Barra, mafiosi belonging to the New Camorra led by Raffaele Cutolo. In June 1983, Enzo Tortora was arrested, accused of being part of the New Camorra and promoting drug trafficking.

A solid socio-judicial biographical miniseries directed by Marco Bellocchio, also the author of Exterior night (2022), about the kidnapping of politician Aldo Moro. Through six episodes, Bellocchio recounts the judicial ordeal Enzo Tortora endured from his arrest to his declaration of innocence in 1987. Previously, he narrates the beginnings of the program Portobello, The show's meteoric rise in the ratings and its impact on the lives of Italians allows the viewer to become familiar with Tortora's character: a charismatic showbiz type, neither saintly nor cynical, concerned about the lower classes, but with no other horizon than his show's variety shows.

Immersion in the 20th century

Truly, the series is a rigorous immersion in the Italy of the 1970s and 1980s; a Catholic but superstitious Italy, dominated by the Mafia, with Christian democracy winning without convincing and with a bureaucratic chaos that ended up being paid by the poorest. Added to this is the rigorous narration of the trial against Enzo Tortora. Bellocchio achieves an adequate balance between the progress of the judicial process, the way Tortora experiences it and the reaction of his relatives and colleagues in the Portobello, The drama is a correct counterpoint to the drama.

In this sense, what is narrated seems true because of the tone of the narration, dramatic, but without sentimentalism, nor violent or sensationalist; each new evidence and accusation against Tortora even provokes laughter because of the ridiculousness of the inventions, leaving the viewer perplexed by the height of imagination to incriminate this popular journalist.