"Wu-Tang: An American Saga". Review: The scripted series of Hulu

After Showtime's four-hour documentary titled "Wu-Tang Clan: Pickups and Men", RZA teamed up with creator Alex Tse for "Wu-Tang: An American Saga," a 10-episode scripted series that serves more than one origin. story of the Staten Island crew that changed hip-hop forever. It captures the group's first polychromatic points of view and its emerging creative genius. Like the best original stories, Saga tries to be a series that newcomers and Wu-Tang fanatics can understand and appreciate.

However, the previous documentary captured the music and personalities of the band in more detail and, more importantly, it told the story with much more clarity, making "Of Mics and Men" mandatory, for the neophytes of Wu. – before watching "Saga" in order to fully appreciate the series.

Installed in the early 1990s in New York, at the height of the crack epidemic, the show traces the genesis of the clan, a vision of Bobby Diggs, aka The RZA, who works to bring together a dozen young black men sharing a musical career. and lives of crime, but end up becoming one of the least likeable American success stories. He follows the formation of the legendary hip-hop band in a context of socio-economic inequality, passing from a group of local rappers from Staten Island to that of one of the hip-hop bands most prominent after the release of his critically acclaimed 1993 debut album. "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 rooms)."

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At the time, RZA was known by his real name Bobby Diggs; Dennis Coles was about to become Ghostface Killah; GZA was Gary Grice; Corey Woods was not quite Raekwon yet; Method Man was known as Clifford Smith, aka "Shotgun"; and Russell Jones was just a few shades to become Ol's Dirty Bastard.

With a membership that would include Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa and Cappadonna, a long-time collaborator, the story of Wu-Tang is vast and could have occupied 20 episodes instead of the 10 that make up the drama series of Hulu . The large number of characters (including several key players) can make it difficult for those who have only a basic knowledge of the group to follow the various intrigues and understand the relationships, especially in the first episodes, which unfold more like a crime. drama at the "The Wire". Viewers may even find it hard to find characters that are immediately pleasing or are worth encouraging. It is a complex story to decipher, with various alliances and motivations not always obvious.

But everything begins to freeze when Bobby Diggs / RZA fully engages in his dream of making music, and the prologue tells the story of Wu-Tang clan formation, as fans know. , really begins to emerge.

Ashton Sanders as Diggs / RZA is the heart of the series, in a new lucid and compassionate performance, illustrating the young dreamer's inner struggle between following his passion for music and supporting his family by helping his brother elder in his illicit projects. Diggs, surrounded by drugs and crime, as well as by the unrealized promise of his friends, sees hip-hop as a way out for all – that is, if they can avoid their own occasional impulses to yield to their worst devices, allowing them to be consumed by the unjust hand treated by life in a typical "deferred dream" scenario. And it is this representation of the vulnerability of young black men that was somewhat absent from the documentary that gives the Hulu series a turn of its own.

Of course, it is fortunately not a hagiography, as one would expect, given that actual members of the clan were directly involved in the development of the series. It is a fictional narrative about the story of Wu-Tang, mainly fictional. Before becoming one of the most influential and influential groups in the history of hip-hop, they were obviously small street craftsmen, involved in violent territorial wars on the verge of becoming murderers. And their seemingly unlikely evolution over time is what makes their story so inspiring.

Thus, unlike other similar works, the eventual success of Wu-Tang never seems predestined. Painting her characters as perhaps extraordinary but embarrassed by the circumstances, life is portrayed realistically in the series, enough for their eventual triumphs to feel like the combination of raw talent, determination and luck she was and not as a fatality.

It is a slow combustion that requires patience. Viewers who expect to immerse themselves immediately in the music studio with RZA and company will probably be a little disappointed. This is not a musical drama of any kind; In fact, there is very little real music creation in the first seven or so episodes. Rather, it is an adult drama, focused on the characters, the lives of young black men from poor and working-class backgrounds, and how they help each other to learn how to become caregivers. men, sometimes without fathers.

But the series seems undeniably more alive when the musical elements are the main focus (the eighth episode, which describes the passage of RZA's Tommy Boy Records, is particularly a highlight), and the crime drama of the passage to old age passes. in the background.

"Wu-Tang: An American Saga" is inspired by the "Wu-Tang Handbook", the first written introduction of the RZA to the philosophy and history of the original hip-hop dynasty; the "Wu Tao", the second philosophical book and the true story of Wu-Tang clan formation. Hardcore fans will probably wonder if the series does justice to Wu-Tang. Those looking for a rudimentary glimpse of the group's founding would be better served by watching the excellent documentary "Clan Wu-Tang: From Mics and Men", released earlier this year. The story of "Saga" appears more like a record of the truth.

"There are things that really happened, there are versions of events," said co-creator and producer Alex Tse during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour during the presentation. from the Serie. "Spiritually, it's very truthful and accurate."

Shameik Moore (Corey Woods / Raekwon), Dave East (Clifford Smith / Shotgun / Method Man), Siddiq Saunderson (Dennis Coles / Ghostface Killah) and Johnell Young (Gary Grice) join Ashton Sanders on the camera. / GZA), and TJ Atoms (Russell Jones / Ol & Dirty Bastard). Marcus Callender, Julian Elijah Martinez, Zolee Griggs and Erika Alexander, Samuel Mckoy-Johnson and Amyrh Harris play essential support roles. "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" is created and written by Alex Tse and The RZA, and produced by Tse, The RZA, Brian Grazer, Michael Rosenberg and Francie Calfo.

Produced by Imagine Television, the series will debut on Wednesday, September 4 with three episodes, followed by a new episode every Wednesday in Wu.

Category B-

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