Inspector Montalbano (TV series)

Inspector Montalbano (Italian: Il commissario Montalbano [il kommisˈsaːrjo montalˈbaːno]) is an Italian television series produced and broadcast by RAI since 1999, based on the detective novels of Andrea Camilleri. The protagonist is commissario (Inspector) Salvo Montalbano, and the stories are set in the imaginary town of Vigàta, Sicily. In 2012 the series generated a prequel, Il giovane Montalbano (English: The Young Montalbano).

Plot

Salvo Montalbano, the police chief inspector of Vigàta, is a gruff character who is responsible and serious at work, but often also open and friendly with people he knows he can trust. Montalbano finds he must investigate various criminal acts in his area, for which—thanks to his great intelligence and the help of numerous assistants, even outside the police—he always manages to reconstruct the exact events and to find a solution. Among his colleagues are his deputy, Mimi Augello, Inspector Giuseppe Fazio, the awkward policeman Agatino Catarella, and other officers of the police station. Otherwise, among his external collaborators are his friend Ingrid Sjostrom, the journalist Niccolò Zito and, more rarely, Adelina, his cook. In his private life, Salvo carries on a long-distance relationship with Livia Burlando, with whom he has a sometimes tempestuous relationship, but in which love always prevails.

Cast

Main characters

• Luca Zingaretti as commissario Salvo Montalbano, chief inspector of police in Vigàta
• Cesare Bocci as vice-commissario Domenico "Mimì" Augello, Montalbano's deputy and close friend
• Peppino Mazzotta as ispettore Giuseppe Fazio, detective inspector and Montalbano's right-hand man
• Angelo Russo as agente Agatino Catarella, police officer
• Sonia Bergamasco as Livia Burlando, Montalbano's eternal girlfriend, who lives in Genoa and sometimes visits Vigàta—played by Katharina Böhm (seasons 1–4) and Lina Perned (season 9), both voiced by Claudia Catani
• Davide Lo Verde as agente Galluzzo, police officer
• Marcello Perracchio as Dottor Pasquano, Vigàta's local coroner
• Roberto Nobile as Nicolò Zito, journalist of local TV station Rete Libera and trusted friend of Montalbano
• Carmelinda Gentile as Beatrice "Beba" di Leo, Mimì Augello's girlfriend and later wife.

Recurring characters

• Isabell Sollman as Ingrid Sjostrom, Montalbano's Swedish friend
• Giacinto Ferro as questore Bonetti-Alderighi, Montalbano's superior in the provincial capital, Montelusa
• Francesco Sineri as Don Balduccio Sinagra, former Mafia boss, now retired to private life
• Giovanni Guardiano as Jacomuzzi, police forensics specialist in Vigàta
• Francesco Stella as agente Gallo, police officer
• Marco Cavallaro as agente Tortorella, police officer
• Mirella Petralia as Adelina Cirrinciò, Montalbano's housekeeper and cook
• Fabio Costanzo (actor) as Pasquale Cirrinciò, Adelina's son, burglar and informant to Montalbano
• Filippo Brazzaventre as Filippo Ragonese, political journalist at local TV station Televigàta and bitter enemy of Montalbano^[1] - previously played by Ubaldo Lo Presti
• Corrado Invernizzi as Lattes, Bonetti-Alderighi's secretary

Series and episodes

Other 4 episodes are expected to be released between 2017 and 2018. Filming started in Sicily in March 2016. The Series 10 episodes (27 and 28)—"A Delicate Matter" and "The Mud Pyramid"—were released for streaming by MHz Networks on June 28, 2016.^[9]

Production

Offices of the Commissioner

Montalbano's house in the fictional Marinella; actually in Punta Secca, a district of Santa Croce Camerina

Given the success of the novels Rai commissioned a television series, in co-operation with Sweden's Sveriges Television, of most of the novels and short stories. Each closely follows the plot of the novels, in some cases joining several short stories. Alberto Sironi has directed the entire series. Luca Zingaretti had to adjust his accent to Sicilian having been born in Rome. Camilleri was teaching at the time when Zingaretti was studying at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. Austrian actress Katharina Böhm plays his girlfriend Livia, dubbed by Claudia Catani, while Cesare Bocci plays his deputy, and Peppino Mazzotta plays his most trusted detective Fazio.

Although Camilleri set his books in a fictionalized version of the province of Agrigento, much of the show is filmed in the province of Ragusa. The exteriors in some episodes, such as de la Mànnara (Fornace Penna) were actually filmed in Sampieri, while Montalbano's headquarters are in Scicli, as are the offices of Commissioner Bonetti-Alderighi (actually that of the mayor of Scicli). Other scenes were filmed in Ragusa Ibla, Modica, Donnafugata Castle, the port of Donnalucata, Marina di Ragusa, Comiso, Santa Croce Camerina, and other sites in south-eastern Sicily. The opening shots of the programme also show Guerrieri Viaduct, which is in Modica.

The show was initially launched on Rai 2, but moved to Rai 1 from the third series onwards based on viewing figures.

Music for the soundtrack was composed by Franco Piersanti.

International transmission

The BBC holds the United Kingdom transmission rights. "Excursion to Tindari" and "Montalbano's Croquettes" ("Gli Arancini di Montalbano") were first shown in the UK on BBC Four in December 2008^[10] and^[11]"Montalbano's Croquettes", episode 8, was repeated in December 2010 and "Excursion to Tindari", episode 5, in August 2011. On 11 February 2012, it broadcast "The Snack Thief", the very first episode, in its 9 p.m. Saturday evening slot,^[2] previously occupied by both series of The Killing and, more recently, Borgen. On 25 August 2012, BBC Four started showing a second series of 12 Inspector Montalbano episodes in its Saturday evening imported drama slot.^[4] BBC Four broadcast the four series 9 episodes on Saturdays from 19 Oct to 9 Nov 2013, calling them "Series 3".^[6] In June 2014, BBC Four began a rerun of all existing episodes, this time in the correct running order.

In Australia the series was shown on Special Broadcasting Service in Italian, subtitled in English by SBS staff. The DVD region code Region 4 DVDs available were produced and subtitled by RAI Trade. A DVD region code Region 2 DVD of "Inspector Montalbano: Collection One" was due for release on 5 March 12, 2012. Episodes featured would be "The Snack Thief", "The Voice of The Violin", "The Shape of Water" and "The Terracotta Dog"

In France, it was shown on France 3 on Sundays as Commissaire Montalbano in winter 2013, whereas in Spain, on La 2 on Saturdays (Spring 2013).

In the United States, it is broadcast on MHz Networks' Worldview Channel.

DVD releases

MHz Networks distributes the Detective Montalbano series on TV, DVD, TVOD and SVOD.

In the UK, the earlier episodes are currently available in both a collection and series format, with the series numbering following BBC Four's. These titles are distributed by Acorn Media UK.

In the Nordic countries the first 18 films are available as Box 1 (1–6), Box 2 (7–12) and Box 3 (13–18). All were released in 2009 (*) with Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles. They were released by AtlanticFilms AB on license from RAI Trade. (*) The boxes state 1999 but this is the start date of the series not the release date of the DVD sets.

In Spain there is a confusing situation with films (dubbed in Spanish as well as Italian with Spanish subtitles) available in both box sets containing six films each and overlapping mini box sets containing two films each. Both types of box are labelled as Colección Montalbano in identically designed boxes to add to the confusion. (Issued by Track Media SL)

See also

• List of Italian television series
• List of police television dramas

References

External links

• Inspector Montalbano at the Internet Movie Database
• Inspector Montalbano Tour. A visitor's guide to where the Inspector has solved many of his cases: Montelusa, the beach at Marinella, the police station, the tower of Charles V and the splendid beaches at Vigata.