Los bastardos de Pizzofalcone

The series presents itself as an atrociously shot early 00s soap opera with romantic crime series dreams. It fails miserably at being anything else than a perfect example on how to waste production budget. The dialogues are bland, most shots are cringeworthy extreme close ups, photography sports what looks like a 12 y.o.'s first attempt at creative color correction, and one of the songs in the O. S. T. Is a blatant plagiarism of Hanz Zimmer's Time. Everything else is subject to personal tastes and interpretations, and even in this I've never happened to like fiabesque representations of the city of Naples, which is a city whose soul, in order to be properly narrated, is something that requires a narrative craft that this series could only dream of.

Love for the rich and vibrant traditions of the ancient city of Naples fills every scene of this series, but the vibe is fresh and contemporary. The cinematography is first-rate, and the acting is superb. Each lead character is well fleshed out, and the character roles in each case are brilliantly cast and acted, be they innocent children or mob bosses, concierges or architects, young lovers or old widows and widowers. The older characters are especially fine, including detective Giorgio Pisanelli, played by Gianfelice Imparato, who, despite his colleagues' skepticism, is doggedly on the trail of a serial killer. It may not be the most original whodunit, but there is plenty of eye candy, and the music is good. It just sings. Of course it does, it's Napoli!

This is a great show, beautiful camera work, full of scenes of Naples. The recurring characters are interesting people with interesting lives that do not detract from the stories. Each plot is unique and not a rehash of Agatha Christy or any other of the mystery shows I have watched. The twists do not come out of nowhere.so rewatching it is a pleasure I really am enjoying this show. Make more!

This is a poor attempt to copy "Montalbano", right down to the quirky cop at the entrance to the police station. The characters are not as rich as many other detective series. Attempts are made to make them seem interesting by giving them problems and issues with which they deal outside of work. As with many French and Italian series, there is the inevitable lesbian relationship (one seldom sees gay male relationships, maybe because they with to preserve the image of Machismo or the French lover, who knows). The episodes drag, and become very formula driven as the series progresses. The sets are either very grubby, crumbling old buildings, or crumbling old buildings filled with ornate carvings, frescoes and furniture.....very Italian!

It's watchable but just expect mediocrity, nothing else!

I'd watched the first two seasons of this on MHZ before I'd started on the series of books. If you love this series, you absolutely must get the books and read them! Start with "The Crocodile" which takes place before any of the "I bastardi" episodes, but is an absolute marvel of a book, introducing you to Lojacano and Piras, as well as Maurizio De Giovanni's style of writing. I came to love Sicily through the Montalbano books, and these, though quite different, give one a great appreciation of Naples, much more than one gets by visiting the Musei or going to see Pompeii.

Then the first actual "bastardi" book, where you are introduced to the other police officers you will know through the series is a must. That book is essentially covered by Season 1 Episode 1, but adds in much of the background from "The Crocodile." The casting is fantastic--I can't imagine anyone seeming more like Lojacano than Alessandro Gassman. And the rest are similarly well cast, down to the idiotic flashing of sunglasses than Angrisiano does playing Aragona. He's perfect, as are the rest. Very well done. This series is as well-matched to the books as the Montalbanos, or the Campion series, or Suchet as Poirot.

Assolutamente perfetto!!