The phenomenon of video game adaptations for cinema and television has always had a controversial past, to say the least. The experiments, already starting from the 90s, are wasted innumerable - just think of the live action film of "Super Mario Bros" with Bob Hoskins or the one taken from the bloody fighting game "Mortal Kombat" - until more recent times. Yet rarely - perhaps only a few years ago with the disturbing "Silent Hill" or the Netflix series "Castlevania" - reproposing atmospheres, characters and the world building of a video game by reconverting them with the camera has led to satisfactory results.
It may be because, from a strictly technical point of view, in the videogame storytelling and setting are intrinsically mixed with the gameplay elements aimed at entertaining the user, and therefore it is difficult to separate the playful element from the more specifically narrative one. But even more than this, and for the most part, similar remakes have proved to be nothing less than listless commercial operations intent on riding the wave of the amazing sales of the titles that have attracted the attention of users.
Well, this latest trend seems to have made a decisive change of course with the series now on everyone's lips " The Last Of Us ", inspired by the homonymous success of the US software house "Naughty Dog".
The videogame saga has established itself among gamers as the experience that most wants to bring the concept of electronic entertainment closer to the cinema , and it is no coincidence that the television series - of nine episodes, now streaming on Sky and Now TV - consists in a faithful adaptation of the first game released on PlayStation 3 in 2013. But to guarantee the same production qualities that made the title a true cult, the co-creator of the series Neil Druckmann was able to count on the collaboration of Craig Mazin, the extraordinary showrunner exploded in terms of notoriety thanks to the television miniseries “Chernobyl”. The series was made possible also thanks to the HBO television broadcaster, which has always been a guarantee for quality titles, and to the intertwined production of Sony Pictures Television, Playstation Productions and Naughty Dog.
With Druckmann's painstaking supervision of the original narrative material, high caliber collaborations like that of Mazin and a production that boasts between 10 and 15 million budget per episode, the starting premises for a guaranteed success were all already there even before the exit. Now, having reached the fourth episode - beyond the understandable and sometimes unreasonable fears of the fans, first of all the cast - we can already recognize the series as a very successful operation, as had never been seen in a similar context .
But what is it that, to date, makes a product like “The Last Of Us” so topical and above all attractive, which at a casual glance would seem to be yet another attempt to reinvent a sadly possible post-apocalyptic future?
First, the initial premise of an out-of-control pandemic following the spread of Cordyceps - a parasitic fungus that affects people by turning them into horrifying-looking out-of-control beasts - can only establish an intimate connection with viewers regarding the recent pandemic experience that we have all witnessed. This can be seen above all in the incipit of the first episode, completely unpublished, which sees a virologist guest of a television program discussing in ways not too dissimilar from those to which we are accustomed. But the series achieves this closeness to the present time without lapsing into a gratuitousness of the effect; on the contrary, making the narrative more effective by making use of expedients that, unfortunately, we recognize as familiar. The theme of infected humans invading the ruined world seems to be overshadowed by other themes that immediately appear stronger in the weight of their contents: the father-daughter relationship is somehow reflected in Joel's tortuous relationship (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsay), traveling together, albeit against their will, to carry out a mission that could radically change the fate of humanity.
The theme of travel and the evolution of the characters is therefore linked to the emotional bond that gradually develops between the two, acquiring - with a skilful play of attractions and contrasts - a lively and highly plausible characterization. In addition to the protagonists, the setting imposes itself in all respects as an active character together with the others: it is nature that regains control over the human will, where the destroyed buildings are intertwined with increasingly thick and oppressive vegetation. An eventuality that - considering the current debates on climate change - proves terribly plausible.
In a similar context, the anthropological and sociological aspect of the few survivors of the spores forces a military dictatorship in constant conflict with the terrorist groups of the Lights. Here each singularity draws strength from its own specific personal motivations: what is the point of continuing to live, by what means and at what price, in a common struggle where the one who wins is simply the last one standing?
Here too a very topical theme emerges overwhelmingly: individualism at the expense of collaborationism , and once again the series knows how to prove itself elegant in problematizing uncomfortable themes without betraying its entertainment function and the coherence of its elements .
