British actors Philip Glenister, Shaun Paul McGrath and Oliver Buckner played featured roles amongst the international cast of Carthago.
Carthagoa brand new Israeli comedy drama series from the makers of (Lost Islands and Hunting Elephants) with creator Reshef Levi. Author of children’s book series The Adventures of Uncle Arieh (Reshef’s Brother) Yannets Levi, and writer Director TomerShani make this a show winning team. The story is loosely inspired by the Levi Brothers’ father’s experience being held in Carthago. With such a backstory andfull-bloodedimpulse behind the show, it’s definitely off to a great start.
Carthago follows Elijah Levi, a successful comedian in 1942 Palestine, who is confined in Carthago, a detainee camp, after being deported by the British authorities. Claiming not to know why he’s being sent to the POW camp, he is forced to navigate his way among Jewish underground warriors and Nazi criminals – anignitable combination of circumstances.
It’s a world rife with war, for the fight for independence, through torture and casualty – with this comes a sense of humour. The show employs a mishmash of genre: a little cartoony in places, a little bit of absurdist violence, a whole serving of double meaning on the side. Think Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. It’s a show that doesn’t shy away from its harrowing subject matter, but does so with a cool modern sensibility and aesthetic. It relishes in the outrageous to bait chuckles out of its audiences, which largely works, even if out of confusion rather than amusement sometimes. The comical narration is less assured, sometimes coming off a little overbearing when it really just needs to allow the story to play out.
Uri Gov, plays main character Elijah Levi. A flamboyant comic with a brisk mouth and attitude. He’s certainly charming: with his magnificent hairtyle and tender facial expressions, he plays a fish out of water and forced to adapt to life in a World War II prison camp, which is hidden deep in Africa. Surrounding him is an assortment of colourful characters: Nazis, Italian fascists, Jewish terrorists and overpowering British officers. Philip Glenister, (Life on Mars)plays Lord Davidson the husband of Helena Davidson played by French actress Carolina Jurczak. A sub story worth its weight in gold. Shaun Paul McGrath is the officer in charge of the camp and is responsible for keeping the prisoners in order. MacDonald displays a violent side as he tries to cope with the pressure of the arrival of his new commander and wife Helena. Israeli and International actors play formidable roles as each of them await screen time to truly shine. Yaakov Zada-Daniel (Fauda) plays Torso and Reshef Levi plays Jacob Dan. Levi’s character runs the camp, yet he has his complications with the other Jewish breakaway groups, intense atmosphere and conflict arises from this storyline. The show certainlyhas grand ambition in its storytelling and seems to be succeeding. Carthago has completed its first successful 10 part series. We now look forward to a new series to help complete or further established storylines.The show recently won two awards at the sixth annual Canneseries Festival, which has placed it high on the (to be seen list).
Here is trailer https://youtu.be/Izii8eKFOEw
