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Rating: 1920, Atlantic City. Prohibition enters its most repressive phase after the approval of the 18th Amendment, which bans the consumption, production, sale, and importation of alcoholic beverages. It is a hard blow for modernizing America, the "dream" that begins to manifest in the symbols of the new star-spangled life: cars, clothing, luxury products in general.
The overseas landscape that faces the American dream, here embodied by the wooden planks of the "Boardwalk," a walkway located near the sea of Atlantic City, a city of shady dealings, governed by equally shady characters. Prohibition throws down the gauntlet to alcohol consumers and also becomes a way for many smugglers and businessmen to line their pockets. In particular, there is a man who controls the city and thus has a privileged channel for alcohol distribution: it’s Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (a convincing Steve Buscemi), county treasurer, as well as an influential political man known for his generosity in supporting those who ask him for help. He employs the young James Darmody (Michael Pitt), a war veteran, who under Thompson's protective wing becomes his personal "squire," before making choices that will distance him from his "godfather."
Wanting to divide this TV series in two, it could be said that Thompson and Darmody, although with different connotations and different ways of acting, are the "dark" characters, the "negative" ones despite their presumption of innocence (a statement that holds much more for the young Darmody). To counterbalance these two figures, there are two other equally important characters for the plot developments, those we can call "white," positive, even though events show they also have something to hide: one is the federal agent Nelson Van Alden (an extraordinary Michael Shannon) and the other is Margaret Schroeder (Kelly MacDonald). The first is the man tasked with hunting down all those who violate prohibition, the second is a woman who, after a difficult life, finds herself living in a world that seems not to belong to her.
It would be out of place to list other characters (many are "secondary"), as it would be misleading to discuss the plot and all its various implications. It is more important to emphasize the success of "Boardwalk Empire," which arrived in Italy with the title "L'impero del crimine." Indeed, while this series might seem like the usual gangster movie with its retro taste and atmosphere, there is a long sequence of themes that serve as the backdrop to the main story and deserve attention: these are the United States of the burgeoning feminist movement and the claims of the "suffragettes." This is the time of the great socialist fear, never truly touched upon by the film, but perceptible in various passages. But it is above all the representation of a world corrupt and infinitely corruptible, where everyone is implicated against their better judgment, in a macrocosm of illegality that has the clean and smiling faces of election campaigns...
Politics, crime, honor, business, and sex intertwine in a very successful first season, also thanks to the supervision of a true master of the genre like Martin Scorsese, the filmmaker of the first episode. HBO provided him with an excellent cast, where Steve Buscemi stands out and even more so Michael Shannon, who tackles the most ambiguous and introspective role of this entire first season. Also important is the group of directors who alternate in directing the various episodes, among which it’s worth mentioning the ninth, "Belle femme," directed by Brad Anderson (already a filmmaker of "Session 9" and "The Machinist").
The first season of "Boardwalk Empire" is absolutely convincing: a work that exudes magnificence in every single frame, that has the wisdom to show the glamour and at the same time the rottenness of the underworld, without ever being self-indulgent. A work of class, craftsmanship, and excellent performances. It's true, it benefited from a substantial budget for a TV series, but the final result is one of importance.
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