Beatrice Blake

I loved the book and am enjoying the TV adaptation. It is strange to see all the black people in the cast when there were very few black people in Russia in the early 20s. However many people do not know that Pushkin, the famous Russian poet, was of African heritage. And many people are unaware of the recruitment by the Soviets of disaffected American black people in the 1930s. You can read about this effort in Langston Hughes's book about his travels in the USSR, I Wonder as I Wander. There is also a documentary being made about this: Black Russians, The Red Experiment. And a good historical article in The New Yorker: A Black Communist's Disappearance in Stalin's Russia. However all that pertains to the 30s, not the 20s.

I love this show! You can get the feel of the whole thing by watching the opening: an elegantly costumed couple kisses chastely in an 18th century drawing room. The taffeta-clad, elaborately coiffed actress leaves the scene. You see her exquisite shoes delicately stepping over coils of electric cords on the floor as she heads to her dressing room, where make up and costume artists attend her. Then you see her legs in jeans and tennis shoes leaving the set, and then her stockinged legs in high heels entering the agency. You've got the four lovable, irascible partners in the agency, plus their staff, plus the actors they represent, plus the writers, directors and producers they work with. That combination supplies plenty of stressful and zany situations. Each agent also has to deal with the reality of his or her character flaws, so there is a solid background of honest interaction. This is the best Netflix series I have ever watched. No gratuitous violence. Only clever, intelligent, very human dialog. Highly recommended. And I agree--just turn on the subtitles--you will miss much of the flavor if you watch the dubbed version.

Gives such a strong feeling of Russian culture, the delightful and the tragic.

Compelling intelligent performances by Hoffman, Dafoe and Robin Wright. No gratuitous violence.