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A Netflix Anatomy - Sense8

All the inspirations behind Wachowski sisters' latest success

A Netflix Anatomy - Sense8 All the inspirations behind Wachowski sisters' latest success

A woman commits suicide in an abandoned church.

At that moment eight people around the world and unknown to each other, different in origin, culture, and experiences begin to have strange feelings of displacement and to perceive foreign experiences.
They find to be "sensate", ie individuals connected mentally and emotionally, part of a cluster, a group that shares sensations, capacity, memories through a sort of human computing cloud.

There are Capheus (Aml Ameen), a bus driver in Nairobi and the fans of Jean-Claude Van Damme; Will (Brian J. Smith), a Chicago police officer; Riley (Tuppence Middleton) an Icelandic DJ with dark past moved to London; Nomi (Jamie Clayton) a woman transgender who lives with his partner Amanita in San Francisco; Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre), a famous actor from Mexico City gay secretly; Kala (Tina Desai) is a researcher of Mumbai who is about to marry a man who is not sure to love; the Berlin burglar Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) and Sun (Bae Doona), businesswoman and kickboxer.

Add a mysterious organization that hunts them, continuous change of scenery moving from one country to another, Gay Pride, processions Indian gods, nightclub, shootings, chases, Asian martial arts, sex, bulimia fiction and you'll get Sense8, Netflix series created by the Wachowski sisters now.

This choir show shaped by the directors of The Matrix and some called "a novel of images and sounds" whose second season should be broadcast on May 5, is an ambitious project in the balance between masterpiece and flop. Spectators will decide it.

Feel like : Jarek Puczel

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Get lost in each other. Speaking without words, through the feelings, through sensations.

As the Wachowski's series, the art of Jarek Puczel is built on the encounter between matter and spirit. His subjects are faceless, without details, because, according to the Polish, life is an illusion and the world the place where various realities merge. What matters is our state of mind, this is what colors and gives meaning to things that we live.

Dress like: Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs loves select controversial original persons as testimonials and some years ago it happened to Lana Wachowski, the transgender filmmaker who with his brother (recently become sister) created Sense8. No wonder then that if there was a famous designer to dress the series characters these would be Mr. Jacobs. If you have any doubt compare Amanita's multicolor dreads with the designer SS17 collection, Nomi's the look at the Gay Pride with that of the models in the resort line or Sun's light blue uniform with the military suit from summer 2015.

And what about the photo appeared on Instagram where Lana, Miguel, and Marc Jacobs smiling together?

Think like: More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon 

Six human beings alone in the world: a child who has the power to read the thoughts in the eyes of others; a little girl who can move objects by thought; a child whose brain works like a computer; twins that can teleport at will and, finally, an eight year old boy with an extraordinary intelligence and command forces.
Everyone with a wonderful talent, which, together, create a unique example with superhuman powers.

Sound familiar? Yes, the stars of More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, with some differences, seem to have much in common with those of Sense8. So if you are crazy for the Netflix series, you might even fall in love with this book.

Read the introduction of Giuseppe Genna to this work and be captivated: 

"If there is a golden age of science fiction - and there is -, the book you are about to read is a jewel twenty-four karat, able to project you with teleportation by any other time directly. This teleportation is called literature. And Theodore Sturgeon, the author of the book in question, is a man who deserves to be the object of a cult, in part a jedi religion, completely dedicated to worship the genius of those who managed to write a masterpiece that can make us think and/or fun with an unparalleled mastery".

Sound like: What's Up by 4 Non Blondes 

Season 1, Episode 4.
The eight guys humming in unison What's Up by 4 Non Blondes.

Nomi whispers this 90s classic while doctors and nurses prepare her for the lobotomy. Lito sings it in bed, next to Hernando and Daniela still asleep, Will front of the PC, Kala on the roof of his house the night before her wedding with Rajan and Sun in the shower. Riley selects the song written by Linda Perry on her iPod, Capheus hears it on the radio and then there is Wolfgang that sings karaoke.

The images of one intersect with those of the other in an incredibly powerful sequence.

Taste like: Birthday (August 8th) cake

Love like: connection between human beings

There are many ingredients to choose from: the sci-fi plot, photography, actors, sex scenes...but our favorite is the idea of global connection, the thread of emotion that combines different identity and experiences.