Lots of family and mother oriented stuff. Fast cars. The people ,except a couple, look like models. Odd music.
The acting is kind of melodramatic. Some fine shots of the location San Benedetto de Tronto. A resort that is not that happy a place. Its better than some worse than others. 6.5 stars.
3 Reviews
Modern Life, Sin and Crime Erodes the Italian Family
csdcsdcsd20031 August 2020
My husband and I viewed all 18 hours of Scomparsa (Tangled Lies) on AcornTV because we've traveled extensively throughout Italy and Sicily and we both have studied the language; however, we found this Italian crime melodrama (with English subtitles) long and silly although the enormous cast, interiors and seaside settings were bella. The show fails to deliver a plot based on fictional crimes in a well-structured timeline that would (a) keep police and viewers guessing and (b) make sense in the end. There were just too many characters and teeny boppers and amateur singalongs and subplots and far-distant locales that, ultimately, did not, for me, add up to a satisfying whole. Even though it's Italy, we don't ever see a large happy family or the inside of a church or a home-cooked meal - the closest we get is smatterings of mother-love and a harangue by a priest in the school gym as the crimes become public (his small audience hardly seem to listen or to care) - is it any wonder the modern Italian family has fallen to shreds, particularly with this plethora of workaholics, mouthy kids, inadequate parents, unfaithful spouses, friends sleeping with their best friends' spouses, adulterous witnesses lurking in out-of-the-way hotel rooms, et cetera?
Scomparsa (Tangled Lies) could be classified as a police procedural but the police constantly behave badly by believing alibis, informing the media (newspaper and radio) of mistaken assumptions, allowing family members to tag along on criminal investigations, phoning the relative of a crime victim to tell her to meet him outside a suspect's current location before entering the property together (in the middle of the night, yet), collecting crucial evidence and having it analyzed at a forensics lab without proper authorization, breaking and entering, failing to protect a helpless assault victim who has barely survived, et cetera. The leading lady (a youth counselor new to the city who, it slowly becomes clear, has done a poor job of counseling her own offspring) appears everywhere, in almost every scene, calling on suspects, visiting distant crime scenes and even (a la Princess Diana) donning hospital scrubs and a face mask to participate in surgical procedures. I was dumbounded. This tireless, serene, plump middle-aged woman appears on the beach, in her car, off to Roma, lounging at home, wandering the woods - all forever and everywhere dressed in dark tights and dark boots. Why boots? In May.
As far as the mystery element goes, I am no Sherlock Holmes but I easily spotted the Scomparsa/Tangled Lies offender in the first reel.
Scomparsa (Tangled Lies) could be classified as a police procedural but the police constantly behave badly by believing alibis, informing the media (newspaper and radio) of mistaken assumptions, allowing family members to tag along on criminal investigations, phoning the relative of a crime victim to tell her to meet him outside a suspect's current location before entering the property together (in the middle of the night, yet), collecting crucial evidence and having it analyzed at a forensics lab without proper authorization, breaking and entering, failing to protect a helpless assault victim who has barely survived, et cetera. The leading lady (a youth counselor new to the city who, it slowly becomes clear, has done a poor job of counseling her own offspring) appears everywhere, in almost every scene, calling on suspects, visiting distant crime scenes and even (a la Princess Diana) donning hospital scrubs and a face mask to participate in surgical procedures. I was dumbounded. This tireless, serene, plump middle-aged woman appears on the beach, in her car, off to Roma, lounging at home, wandering the woods - all forever and everywhere dressed in dark tights and dark boots. Why boots? In May.
As far as the mystery element goes, I am no Sherlock Holmes but I easily spotted the Scomparsa/Tangled Lies offender in the first reel.
Terrible acting and script
qui_j2 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This series is a made for Italian TV by RAI. While the plot keeps one slightly interested to see how it all ends, the series is so slow moving and dragged out, that it was impossible to watch this other than in small pieces at a time. It is your typical Telenovela type production with dramatic musical chords struck in the background to highlight sinister news, sweet, cloying violin music to emphasize tender moments, a lot of wide eyed staring by the actors, and crying by all the actors, men and women alike, every 5 minutes! It is hard to take it seriously, especially as the plot keeps going back and forth in an attempt to piece the story together. That technique just becomes very overused throughout the series. Sometimes, the action jumps ahead of itself without bringing the viewer along, so that creates a tremendous discontinuity in the story.
The lead actress is totally unbelievable in the part as her expressions and movement are so wooden and frozen. The plot also has it's own lack of credibility that would have one think that the mother of the missing girl would be able to be so intimately involved with the police process to find her. The subtitles need some work to avoid direct translations from Italian to English as that sometimes results in nonsense. Overall, it's probably best matched to the local Italian TV market but would have little in the way of global appeal.
The lead actress is totally unbelievable in the part as her expressions and movement are so wooden and frozen. The plot also has it's own lack of credibility that would have one think that the mother of the missing girl would be able to be so intimately involved with the police process to find her. The subtitles need some work to avoid direct translations from Italian to English as that sometimes results in nonsense. Overall, it's probably best matched to the local Italian TV market but would have little in the way of global appeal.
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