Maltese - Il romanzo del commissario

It's been several long years since I've seen a gritty realistic and genuinely good Sicilian mafia epos, hence I was really enthusiast when finding out about the "Maltese" mini-series! Also, the series is set in the year 1976, which incidentally means that it features all the trademarks of my beloved and utmost favorite Poliziotesschi genre, namely: rough macho cop-protagonists with mustaches, savage car chases with fragile Alfa Romeo Giulias and exaggeratedly heavy smoking in concealed spaces! Add to this a fantastic contemporary soundtrack, a compelling plot, strong performances and per episode a few bits of harsh violence, and you've got yourself an absolute must of a euro-crime series.

Roman police commissioner Dario Maltese travels back to his hometown Trapani, in Sicily, to attend the wedding of his oldest friend who's the head of local police. Dario left Trapani when he was sixteen, following the suicide of his father (again, a police commissioner) who got involved in a sex-scandal with a minor. Barely arrived in Trapani, Dario's friend and his fiance are brutally executed in their car. Maltese discovers that his friend was attempting to clean up the mafia practices in Trapani and began to make good progress. Fed up trying to run from his past, Maltese promptly arranges his permanent transfer to Trapani to continue his friend's work and capture his assailants. Needless to say, Maltese rapidly runs into typical mafia obstructions, like utterly corrupt authority figures, key-witnesses getting murdered, money laundering and cover-ups. His persistence as well as his unorthodox methods are nevertheless successful, as he manages to revitalize the team of fatigue inspectors and even uncover some dark secrets surrounding the death of his own father.

The first episode of "Maltese" is extremely powerful and immediately establishes that we are dealing with an intelligent and qualitative series here. Admittedly, the next 3-4 episodes are slightly less absorbing and memorable, but for comprehensible reasons. The plot is thickening, Commissioner Maltese faces dead ends or useless leads in his investigation and there naturally also are the mandatory sub plots, like the romance with the beautiful press photographer. The last three episodes, however, are so suspenseful and fast-paced that I bench-watched them without interruptions. The coastal filming locations are astounding, and likewise are the performances of the entire cast. Throughout the series, there's quite a lot violent content, like stone-cold executions, but evidently several eminent characters in Trapani continue claiming that the Sicilian Mafia is nothing but a fable. Great stuff, highly recommended if you are into Italian exploitation cinema of the 70s (Umberto Lenzi, Stelvio Massi, Fernando Di Leo, ...)

'Gomorra' is the Italian equivalent to 'The Wire', a drama that explores the entire basis of a crimilaised society from top to bottom. 'Maltese: The Mafia Detective' was conceived by some of the same people, but it's a different sort of story, focused on a single heroic protagonist, featuring a mystery to be unravelled, and set in beautiful Sicily (it's true, 'Gomorra' is set in beautiful Naples, but that show offers a very unattractive view of its host city). But if you were to think that 'Maltese' might be, say, a clone of 'Inspector Montalbano' (a fun but essentially lightweight series), you'd be mistaken. It's well-acted, immaculately shot and scored, and has a historical setting (the 1970s) while still feeling of contemporary relevance; while the mafia-themed plot is sufficiently complex to carry eight episodes, yet without descending into ridiculouslness. The ending is both surprising and appropriate. If 'Gomorra' has an operatic feel at times, 'Maltese' is more softly poetic; but still very good

Lots of Alfa Romeoporn lol Some loose ends in the plot. Good acting.

One of the best Italian series ! nice atmosphere and good actors.

This Italian drama is set in the mid '70s and follows Dario Maltese, a police commissioner who returns to his hometown on Sicily to attend the marriage of his childhood friend who is now the commissioner of the local police. Maltese hasn't been there long when his friend and his fiancée are gunned down. He requests a transfer to he can investigate his friend's murder. It isn't long before authorities are linking the death to an unknown woman he was seen with; Maltese is convinced that it was no crime of passion though... he is sure it has all the hallmarks of a mafia hit. He, and a few trusted police officers started digging deeper and soon believe that there are links between the local political authorities and organised crime. It won't be easy to prove though; these are incredibly dangerous people willing to kill anybody who betrays them and anybody trying to expose them.

When I saw the trailer for this, featuring our protagonist driving a motorboat with his suit and '70s moustache I thought it might be a pastiche but it quickly became apparent that this was going to be a fairly gritty drama. It doesn't do anything to glamorise the mafia; they are depicted as thugs who have corrupted those in power through a combination of bribery and fear. There is a real sense of danger as the investigation progresses; this escalates exponentially as Maltese closes in on the evidence he so desperately seeks. The makers nicely captured the '70s feel; at no time did I feel that details were obviously wrong as is often the case with dramas sent in the not too distant past. The acting is impressive; most notably from Kim Rossi Stuart, who plays Maltese and is rarely off screen; and Rike Schmid who play Elisa Ripstein, a photographer at the local paper who gets involved with Maltese. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of European crime drama; especially those who enjoyed 'Inspector Montalbano' and want to see something else set on Sicily, even though this is much gritter.

These comments are based on watching the series in Italian with English subtitles.