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Rating: "There is a fifth dimension beyond that which man already knows, it is as boundless as infinity and as timeless as eternity. It is the intermediate region between light and darkness, between science and superstition, between the dark abyss of the unknown and the luminous peaks of knowledge. It is the region of imagination, a region found...at the twilight zone".
With a touch of emotion and nostalgia, I am about to introduce you to one of the most phenomenal TV series ever created. It is essential to mention the creator and absolute visionary of "The Twilight Zone", namely: Rodman Edward Serling (1924 - 1975). Serling had a carefree childhood, and this will be partially reflected in some of his creations. A brilliant, courageous, outgoing man, endowed with remarkable communication skills, passionate about magazines like Amazing Stories and Unknow. These readings would prove fundamental for the development of his future projects. Unfortunately, Serling's serene adolescence was abruptly interrupted by World War II. He enlisted in the paratroopers on the day of his high school graduation. He went to the Philippines, where he witnessed the brutal battles between the Japanese army and the Allies. He was seriously wounded by grenade fragments, and during the same period, his father died of a heart attack. When he returned home, he had become a changed man internally.
The opportunity to write gave him a means to vent the enormous emotional pressure accumulated from the traumas he endured. It’s no coincidence that many moral questions resurface in his most successful series. In '46, he enrolled at Antioch College (Yellow Springs). After a short period of indecision, he chose the faculty of English literature. He worked at a radio station in Springfield and had the chance to develop an impressive multitude of texts, also handling the direction and interpretation. Although the writings were not yet perfected, the style was already original... "The place is here. The time is now. And the journey into shadows that we are about to witness might be our journey". It was precisely following a harsh critique for the commentary included at the end of the successful episode "The Time Element" of the fantasy-science fiction series Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, that "The Twilight Zone" proposed by Serling got the green light from CBS. Critics and audiences were enthusiastic, and fan clubs quickly formed in various U.S. states. The Twilight Zone arrived in Italy on the state broadcaster on April 14, '62, with "Read Time". Do you remember the adventure of Henry Bemis, the timid banker, with an overwhelming passion for reading? Always opposed by his overbearing wife and a pompous boss, after an incredibly improbable twist of fate, he will have all the time he ever desired. But then what happened?... The episodes were aired in a disorganized and partial manner, perhaps because it was not framed as a single series. Only in '80 were the missing episodes broadcasted and dubbed.
The package contains in 5 DVDs the 'season one', with all the first 36 episodes in Italian, remastered in high definition directly from the original negatives, with mono audio 2.0, totaling 900 minutes. Additionally, extras have been included such as: audio interviews, trivia for each episode, photo galleries, animated menus in computer graphics, Serling's audio conferences, and an alternative version of the pilot episode "Where is Everybody". It is impossible to exhaustively describe the contents of each narrated story, both due to the high number, and the variety and depth of the topics covered. After half a century, the spirit and meaning of this entire work have not been worn down (or almost). Revisiting some episodes brings a smile for the special effects that now seem naive and simple to us, drastically outdated compared to contemporary ones. Countless ideas from those episodes have been reused and reworked by emerging directors for film productions. This means this series has had, and still has, a considerable impact on new generations. The episodes tell of scientific experiments, travels in time and space, alien interferences, atomic conflicts, substitutions of people, lost or buried places and times in memory. Serling explores the human psyche in all its aspects. Hidden obsessions, hypochondrias, misunderstandings, nightmares, greed, desires, and failures. By traversing time and space, unknown dimensions are reached that probe even immortality, with no shortage of plot twists and unpredictable endings.
Serling's work is unmistakable. Even though each episode is self-contained, the recurring and nonetheless predominant theme is solitude. A desperate solitude that haunts his characters for better or for worse in an impressive multitude of circumstances and events. To be continued...
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