McMafia [DVD] [2017]

I wanted to see this for the versatile actor James Norton. Witness that people came to Norton and hoped he would die because he was so associated with his character from Happy Valley, a character so vile he would stop at nothing to get what he wants. I see that some thought Norton played this "wooden." I think he was a "controlled" character, as written, and played it as such. Looking at his uncle, father, sister and his mother's materialism, it seemed to me that, as more educated and worldly than his family members, he was further removed from his origins. Proof again of his abilities to take on a role are his psychopathic performances in Happy Valley vs. his kind/gentle but struggling, Vicar in Grantchester.The Russian mob, "James Bond"-type movies and the "Bourne" series is not my usual genre interest. And I was wrong here.Norton does a superb job playing as the "good" son whose family made money in Russia illegally and were overtaken by adversaries and forced to leave. But not without the comfortable life that illegal money bought them. Though son, Alex Godman, is clean and works for a living as an honest investment banker -- tragedy, and events, strike to turn his safe life upside down. And he must find a way to put those work skills he has to a new use. A particular honor should goes to the actor David Strathairn as a ex-pat Russian Jew who made his money in shipping and drags Alex into his web. He too is a superb actor and I would hope a Best Supporting BAFTA for him is in his future.Second, I was amazed to see that it actually was filmed in locations that appeared in the film. No expense spared here. Last, the plot was believable. The disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots" and how easy it is to get pulled into crime when there is all this money around but just out of reach for the majority of the world's population -- and, if only, you see the opportunity know that it comes with a huge debt.Norton carries off his evolution expertly. Don't miss this because there are some great performances, along with a believable story line of just "how easy it is" until it all starts to go bad and the devil comes calling for repayment.

Inspired by a book written by Micha Glenny, who knows a thing about eastern europe, this drama shines a realistic spotlight on the Russian grip of organised crime, of bent Russians and their bent money – aided and abetted by the mafia state of Russia itself. We are all probably familiar with news stories of Russians with connections to this or that suddenly being found dead after some seemingly or not so seemingly accidental mishap, and this drama captures this.I had missed the original TV series, and to be honest, after reading the ‘mixed reviews’, I was not so sure about buying the DVD. I am glad that I did. Those suggesting that it was slow or dull etc; in my mind were seeking some sort of instant gratification possibly featuring some bloke with a shaved head dodging thousands of bullets and explosions. It is not that type of programme.In fairness, the first episode at times appeared a little slow, but that was only setting the scene for an exciting series that contained some unexpected developments, and ended with a scene being set for a possible sequel.

I bought this for my mum for Christmas, she was a fan of the Bodyguard and Line of Duty but did not see McMafia when it was on at the start of last year. So I decided to rectify that this Christmas time.I am a fan of Misha Glenny's work, I haven't read McMafia but I've listened to his series on Vladimir Putin that is free to listen on Audible that was absolutely fascinating, I highly recommend any audible users who enjoyed McMafia go and download that. Sorry for the bit of a digression but there is not a lot I can say about the DVD series other than watch it!Without giving too much away the show is a dramatization of many individual plot lines from the book into a coherent story about a family who have fallen from the grace of the Russian oligarch elite. It plots one man's quest to restore the reputation of the family name following the sins of the father and the toll this takes on the man and in turn, all of those around him as the adage holds true - power corrupts; absolute power corrupts, absolutely.While in reality, this is not the story of one man and his quest to return to Russia but many plot lines and cases gleaned through the power of investigative journalism. For every accusation of fake news there are a hundred journalists holding power to account through the work they do and the greater the stakes, the greater the danger they may find themselves in, especially in Russia. With that understanding, it is not a great leap of imagination from what is portrayed on screen to what has happened in the past in real life.Powerful, compelling watching

Loved this when it was on the TV, but its one of those series that has to be watched more than once, the more you watch it, the more you understand it, so I was very happy to buy it on DVD, its a very gritty, intense drama, if you are a fan of the Godfather films, you should enjoy this.

Read the reviews and decided to buy. Big mistake. Bought blueray which wasn't cheap so felt compelled to watch it in its entirety. Boring, cliched, wooden acting by 'you know who'. Even though he was clearly meant to be a person in control, he was too much so. Difficult to stay awake. Why make something so derivative?

This is a must see mini series, for fans of crime movies.Slick, smart and totally enjoyable.

An excellent series , safely delivered , thank you .

Good