Mr. Bean

Filipe Manuel Neto

**Probably one of the most effective and beloved comedy series ever.** For people like me, who grew up in the 90s, Mr. Bean is certainly one of the best and most nostalgic pieces of television ever made, as well as being one of the best series made in Europe. It's really hard to think that there were only fourteen episodes when it seems, to our eyes, that there were several dozen. Without great visual artifices, without particular care for the scenery (Bean's apartment is never exactly the same between episodes and there are other subtle changes), with the soundtrack reduced to a minimum (the song used at the beginning and end, “Ecce homo qui est faba”) without concerns about verisimilitude, all the episodes do what they set out to do: make everyone laugh. Each episode lasted about half an hour and could be watched by any type of person, even on a lunch break for someone whose work requires them to have lunch outside the home. The protagonist, Bean (we will never know if he ever had a name other than “Mr.”), is a perfectly ordinary man, but much more idiotic than most people (except, perhaps, a notable portion of the employees). public), and the various episodes clearly show the mishaps and embarrassing situations that happen in his life. And we laughed... but who, after all, has never experienced at least one situation so bizarre or embarrassing that it could have been carried out by Bean? The actor who gave body and soul to the character is the inimitable Rowan Atkinson. He is, without a doubt, a good actor, but Bean was that character that brought out the best in the actor, that character that he conceived and tailored to his abilities and talent, and that can never be played decently any longer. nobody. And as almost always happens in cases like these, the character stuck to the actor as if she were a second skin, and it is understandable that Atkinson preferred to reform her, even though her popularity seems to prevent an absolute reform: Bean still appears, in a very punctual way, whether for a commercial advertisement or for a special appearance, as happened at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. After all, along with the late Elizabeth II and the many faces that were once James Bond, Bean is certainly the most recognizable and loved Brit in the world.