MiniReview: "The Life You Wanted" (Italian TV series)

 

What is it?

A 2024 Italian miniseries (6 episodes, original title La vita che volevi), directed and co-written by Ivan Cotroneo.

 

We don’t look at many miniseries. And Italian, too!

I was drawn to it because the main character is a trans woman, which is relatively unusual, and particularly in an Italian context, where society still seems a bit reluctant to embrace LGBTQ identities.

 

So, what’s it about?

There’s a lot of plot here. But it all starts when Gloria, a trans woman who has built a good life for herself in Lecce, in the far south of Italy’s heel, has her life turned upside down when an old friend from before her transition shows up and informs her that the eldest of her three children (the youngest is as yet unborn), Andrea, is actually Gloria’s son.

 

A situation rich in dramatic possibility!

Yes, and this series extracts every bit of juice out of it. There’s the fraught relationship that develops between Gloria (who doesn’t want kids) and her son, but also a psychotic ex-lover of Marina’s who puts everyone’s lives in jeopardy. There’s some comedy, and at one point the show becomes almost a police procedural.

 

I get the feeling we’re not in the world of high art here.

It’s pure melodrama. What it mostly reminded me of is a 2020s version of a Bette Davis potboiler from the 1940s co-starring George Brent. There’s not a lot of subtlety here. But it’s a lot of fun. In the last episode, Gloria actually makes a reference to Gone With the Wind, a Hollywood melodrama of the type I kept thinking of while watching the series—minus the racism and objectionable politics. If you like wildly plot-driven storylines featuring murder, family secrets, terminal illness, adultery, creepy ex-lovers and weepy, overly sentimental dramatic climaxes, you’ll eat this up. And it’s all set against a glorious Italian backdrop, with wonderful music.

 

How is the whole trans angle handled?

Rather sensitively, I’d say. What’s even more unusual than the fact that an Italian series has a trans main character is the fact that the series isn't really about the fact that she’s trans. It’s essentially a drama series with a plot that is complicated by the fact that the protagonist is trans. There are some flashback scenes from Gloria’s young adult years, before her transition, and these are well done, and moving at times. And the relationship between Gloria and young Andrea is richly complex, as he’s having to handle both (1) meeting his “father” and (2) discovering that his father is a woman.

 

Stars?

This is really not cancel-everything-and-watch-this television. But given how relatively disappointing my experience of LGBTQ television series has been (see here and here, for example), I must say that this is rather grown-up. And it’s also thoroughly queer in its contrast of a “chosen family” and a traditional Italian blood family—although in the end the two come together happily. I don’t know if my standards for television are just depressingly low, but I’ll give this a star. It’s a good watch, and it has a heart.