Rigopiano is a name that, until a few years ago, almost no one knew. Only citizens of a particular area of ​​Abruzzo or those who used to holiday on the slopes of Gran Sasso were able to give meaning to this word. Then everything changed. Since 2017 everyone has known what the word Rigopiano is and how much pain it brings, that hotel which on 18 January seven years ago saw the bodies and souls of 29 people swallowed up under its rubble who, by pure chance, they had chosen to spend a happy moment of their lives that very day, in that very place, only to be overwhelmed by an avalanche.

From that moment on, Rigopiano became a noun no longer just from Abruzzo but belonging to the whole of Italy. It is a word that united a country first in the name of hope, then of pain and finally of anger. It’s a name that, even today, just pronouncing it gives you shivers and causes such a tight grip on your heart that you immediately move your thoughts somewhere else to protect yourself from the pain.

But pain must be faced, looked in the eye and, sometimes, even transformed into art.

A documentary as collective therapy

And that’s exactly what Pablo Trincia did with the docuseries “And then the silence. The Rigopiano disaster” which recalls, recounts and brings to life one of the greatest tragedies of our times with such emotional and communicative strength that it becomes a collective therapy .

Written by Trincia together with Debora Campanella with the extraordinary direction of Paolo Negro, this series of five episodes is a pearl of rare beauty that tears the soul but at the same time heals it. The work that Pablo Trincia has done with this very courageous serial project, which arrives after the success of the podcast of the same name, is exemplary and demonstrates that a TV series inspired by a tragedy that actually happened does not necessarily have to fall into sensationalism but can be a respectful story, delicate, humble and, precisely for this reason, very strong.

This series has the courage to speak softly, it is not afraid of silences, pauses, slowness. It is a series conceived and created with respect, sensitivity and generosity and is not concerned with having to entertain the public but only thinks of being useful, of giving a little comfort to those who have been part of the story first hand and to those who have witnessed it from far away but still feels it as his own.

A series that will make you feel more human

Pablo Trincia manages to translate into words – and Paolo Negro into images – all the essence of this terrible story and all the values ​​of the Abruzzo people who suffered it and proved themselves once again, after the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake , strong, kind and very attached to his Earth, even when it is precisely this that causes him the greatest pain.

The director’s choice to collect videos taken from the phones of the survivors and victims when they were still happy and unaware of what would happen to them in a few hours and to project them on the ruins of what remains today is noteworthy. of the hotel in Rigopiano, a “modern Pompeii”. The result of this artistic twist leaves you speechless. Just as the graphic representation of the avalanche created is left speechless, allowing artificial intelligence to translate into form what it was unable to do in the survivors’ testimonies. The on-screen performance of this directorial gamble is astonishing and on the one hand it offers beauty and on the other it imposes a sense of asphyxiation that petrifies.

“And then the silence” is a series to be experienced not only with the eyes but with the whole body. You look at it feeling a sense of oppression, of claustrophobia, of impotence but at the same time you are grateful to Pablo Trincia and his entire team for having found the courage to speak with the survivors, with the relatives of the victims, to spend hours and hours of reviewing archive images of this tragedy and exposing ourselves so emotionally just to give all of us, the audience, an enormous spectrum of emotions.

Watch “And then the silence”, find the courage to face the pain, to make yourself vulnerable for a few hours of your time, to cry, get emotional, get angry. Do it because after all this feeling with your heart and body you will have a very precious reward: you will feel more alive and decidedly more human than before.

Rating: 8.5

“And then the silence. The Rigopiano disaster – The series” will be broadcast on 20, 21 and 22 November exclusively on Sky TG24, Sky Documentaries, Sky Crime and streaming only on NOW.

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