Il commissario Montalbano

Set in Sicily, Italy, and based on a series of novels, INSPECTOR MONTALBANO has proved successful in various parts of Europe. I caught it on BBC4, the cultural channel of the BBC. It takes a lot to infuse what might be termed an over-familiar genre with touches of originality, but INSPECTOR MONTALBANO achieves this task successfully. This is chiefly due to the interplay between the three main characters (Luca Zingaretti, Angelo Russo, Cesare Bocci), who work successfully as a team yet continually bicker with one another. The shooting-style also helps; there is an extensive use of outdoor locations - as opposed to the uniformly gray interior sequences of many British detective series - and a greater reliance on pans and zooms, rather than shot/reverse shots. This gives the series an epic feel, despite the familiarity of the story lines. The scripts are tautly written with plenty of opportunities for throwaway lines from the main protagonists. Definitely worth a look as a refreshing alternative to Anglo-American detective series.

Love this show..it has everything..drama tension violence and a cool clever Inspector who is very intelligent and funny.Relationships are loyal and rich..while I'm learning the beauty of the language and the scenery.Music is superb🎶 💕.....

Detective Montalbano ( Il Commissario Montalbano ) is a film rendition of a classic series of detective novels written by Andrea Camilleri.

Our hero Salvo Montalbano, played by the excellent Luca Zingaretti, is a chief detective (Il Commissario) working in the province of Ragusta, Sicily, Italy. Salvo lives a single life, is a gourmet, and a long-distance swimmer with a beautiful ocean-front house.

Salvo is confronted with crimes that require his wits, stamina, and a the ability to deal with political and bureaucratic pressures to close cases " quickly " and without stepping on the wrong toes, unless of course, they belong to his subordinates.

He manages to somehow accomplish this and also maintain a relationship with his distant and " long-suffering " girlfriend, Livia, living on the mainland in Genoa ( not counting the beautiful women he encounters on-duty in Sicily ).

I first saw episodes of this RAI program in Germany where it remains very popular, and began buying the Camilleri novels in the US. I also started collecting the 18 volume DVD collection, which are available from the EBAY Italia website. MHz Television in Virginia, deserves a big credit for introducing the Detective Montalbano series to North America with English subtitles, although the Mhz film quality is somewhat grainy and less colorful when compared to the original DVD.

The original novels jump between Italian, Siciliano, and a mix of both. The films make good use of the mainland Italian detectives assigned to Ragusa having to contend with the local police staff language and Sicilian customs. As mentioned in the review above, Catarella, a local officer at the front desk is enjoyable when both confronted by, and confusing to, Salvo Montalbano.

If you have been to Sicily, or plan on visiting someday, you will enjoy this series by RAI. Highly recommended !

Yes, Salvo is the right toyboy for the ladies and an impatient chief for the police station. I like him and his logic even there is Catarella, the nuisance got a name, and Mimi being the limited officer by his side. Fazio is the bright officer who can follow Salvo's mind. After all this is a film reflecting Sicilian attitude at its best. This is one of the best police drama's I have seen even it can be comical at times.

For those of us raised on 'Inspector Morse', 'Inspector Montalbano' comes as a welcome breath of Sicilain air. Not that I didn't like 'Inspector Morse' per se; just that Morse, and his Swedish clone Wallander, fit a certain stereotype of a detective, namely the brooding, grumpy old man. Montalbano, on the other hand, is also a stereotype, but a very Italian one. He wants an easy life, good food, a relaxing environment, if he loses his temper occasionally, it's only out of frustration of things getting in his way, on the other hand, if he's faithful to his girlfriend, that's only because being involved with two women would be just too complicated. He, and the rest of the cast, play their roles as comic Sicilians to perfection: and while this might not be altogether serious drama, the combination of Mediterranian beauty, comedic moments and ropey murder plots makes for a very agreeable evening's viewing. On seeing my first episode I was underwhelmed; but once you know the characters, it's great fun.