Hotel Portofino (2022)

Written by Coco Sea on December 25, 2023

What a lavish show is Hotel Portofino! If you love period shows, especially from the early 20th century, you may like this one. But, beware, PBS Masterpiece has become politicized and a bit depressing. Those of us who have enjoyed Masterpiece of the past and period film-TV, usually seek to move away from humin ugliness and the day’s politics. It is possible, when we do xplr humin ugliness, to do it in a way that doesn’t look or feel ugly. Let’s hope Portofino survives.

PBS has changed; elegance is rarely experienced there anymore. Gone are the operas; gone is jazz from around the world; gone are the Nutcracker ballets; and gone is top talent and any hope of multiculturism. PBS is now mostly for those who wish to see only their as-is selves and their Now Culture lives unfold --- in some version and in any state --- on screen. Despite that, Hotel Portofino manages to capture my attention. I like its xplration of the past in set design, fashion, cars, and jewelry. I like visual appeal of some of the actors (can anyone say, “Mark, you light up my Umbers?”). The acting of the staff is wonderful. I’d like to see some of them on stage. The tv show’s music is as inviting and colorful as its cinematography.

Hotel Portofino is disappointing due to the day’s politicization and humin ugliness it contains (neither of which a patron of elegant lodging would appreciate in reality). Both taint what could be a magnificent, Merchant-Ivory-esque, period experience. Gay politics in post-08 America has led to a gay character; black politics in post-08 America has led to a black character, both for the umpteenth time in contemporary entertainment. Instead, Hotel Portofino could have done the honest thing and showed care by introducing us to 1920’s Itlay’s panoply of people: the French, English, Japanese, German, Albanian, North African, East African, and Eastern European. This is the problem with politicized entertainment; we do not learn from nor connect with the humin family. Worse, ecco la nostra bruttezza! Domestic violence, marital infidelity, and criminal activity dirty the Hotel. In these challenging times, where is the care and decency?

Hotel Portofino just completed its second season with words whose essence I hope the show weaves into successive seasons, “In a dark and dangerous world; when an unknown fate awaits us all; to encounter honest, decent people who take pride and show care, is the most that we can ask for.”