Il giovane Montalbano

Love 'Inspector Montalbano' and feel that it does a great job bringing freshness to a well-worn genre (not intended as a bad thing, love crime/mystery drama but there's a lot out there with familiar tropes to each other).

Was not sure how its prequel series 'The Young Montalbano' would fare when hearing of it. It sounded interesting to see the great 'Inspector Montalbano' characters in their youth, but also questioned the necessity. With that being said, had mixed expectations before watching 'Endeavour', the prequel series to one of my favourites 'Inspector Morse' and it ended up nearly as great. The same goes for 'The Young Montalbano', it must have been no easy feat to live up to such a good show and have a younger actor for the title character filling in very big shoes but 'The Young Montalbano' manages it splendidly.

Some may question the physical resemblances of the younger cast to 'Inspector Montalbano's' cast for continuity's sake, Mimi is a notable example. To me though, my only complaint is the bland and annoying character of Mery which is a minor thing actually because she's only in a couple of episodes so not enough to bring down the show as an overall whole.

Very like 'Inspector Montalbano', 'The Young Montalbano' is beautifully shot and the scenery is stunning, making those who've never been to Italy want to book a holiday there as soon as possible and is a treat for anybody who loves all things Italian. The scenery as always is atmospheric and the use of it very clever, the locale as always is suitably colourful. The music is never over-bearing or low-key with a nice atmosphere and flavour, a lot of it is very cleverly used. The sound effects are remarkably authentic.

Oh, and something that was neglected to be mentioned by me in my reviews for the show and its individual episodes is how the food is enough to make one salivate over, it looks so delicious and almost too good to eat.

'The Young Montalbano' manages to stay true to what was so good about 'Inspector Montalbano' and is every bit as successful at creating a history that is both incredibly interesting and plausible. The humour is fun, the conflict is tense in a nail-biting way and the drama charms and affects. The characters as their younger selves, for what they lack in physical resemblance, more than make up for that in maintaining the same personalities we know and love the characters for and being just as interesting in development. Even the supporting characters are given a lot of attention.

A great job is done with the storytelling. They are just as well-paced, absorbing, intelligently written and brain-teasing as those of 'Inspector Montalbano', while keeping logic intact and not confusing or alienating the viewer. Generally the denouements feel cooked all the way through and very little is improbable. Also love the humanity that 'The Young Montalbano' has, how things that could easily been mundane actually came over as somewhat poetic and liked how the relationship between Montalbano and Livia was written, very charming and sweet.

The acting is very good, Michele Riondino had a Herculean task filling the shoes of the incomparable Luca Zingaretti but is more than up to the task and does it more than admirably, balancing comedy, drama and intensity with ease. The characters of Mimi and Catatella (the latter having some hilarious moments) are also very well filled.

In conclusion, wonderful, affectionate prequel series that does 'Inspector Montalbano' justice and does more than enough to stand on its own. Should have lasted longer and would have no complaints whatsoever if it was renewed. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This series is much more about the relationships between the various characters than about the crimes and criminals. The lead actors are absolutely pitch perfect for their parts. The cinematography is wonderful. You feel like you live in Vigata. The extra frisson of tension added by the mafia builds tension. But the tension is also about each character and how they manage to work together and support each other.

This series is SO MUCH BETTER than the old Montalbano series in every way. We watched all 12 in the two seasons and wanted to watch 12 more. We watch about 5 of the other series, which has many more episodes, and got bored.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I've avidly soaked up every single episode of both incarnations, it says something about the quality of the productions that little glitches are quickly overlooked or forgotten. I had great reservations when "The Young Montalbano" first aired because none of the actors fitted in looks to the previous series, this was quickly dispelled as I drifted once more into the hypnotic storytelling. I liken it to reading a series of books, we all know how that goes, we build up pictures in our heads of how all the characters would look and are then bitterly disappointed when we see them in the flesh as it were. None of that for me. I just love them all. Cannot wait for the next installments.

Was v worried that it just would not work, Luca is so perfectly into Camilleri's characterisation, did not see how the prequel could possibly pull it off.

Needn't have worried, it all works perfectly.

A good introduction to the Camilleri books, and could be watched either before or after the original series. It works either way.

Don't understand mouthbox moans, perhaps he just can't multitask. He hasn't seen previous series and presumably hasn't read the books which have wonderful footnotes of the food. Perfect makes you want to rush to the kitchen,I definitely agree with that part of the review.

So, read the books, watch all episodes, enjoy the food wine and scenery.

The basic plot line of this version naturally follows the original. If you liked the original you will like this as well if not better. Riondino does a great job in that you can appreciate him both as a detective but also as a person. One can feel is ups and downs yet appreciate his ability to do his job well. He's really believable. Like the original the comic relief grows on you as the characters become more familiar and it seems there are more humorous situations/discussions with those being interviewed. Yet, for me, it did not interfere with the policing aspect of the show. The criminal plot of this show seems a bit more sophisticated in that the crimes have a bit more depth and are cleverly done. This Livia is also very good. She's attractive, lovable, very patient, but you can watch her character evolve in a way that makes the other Livia from the original more understandable. If you like detective series in general, this has a good mix of serious/light. If you're Italian, even better. You almost feel as though you have known these people at some point. It is really regrettable that Mhz doesn't bring ALL the seasons of their shows on board and it's not just the Italian stuff. They really need to do better.