Very well executed

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Montalbano is great fun and a welcome change from the prevailing British detective/PI trope - a sullen, morose depressive living gloomy landscape, usually morning his lost wife, Alzheimer's ridden parent, etc. He lives in an equally depressing tiny apartment and eats TV dinners. I'm not sure why this trope is so prevalent, but I suppose they think that depressing equals deep and profound. Along comes Montalbano, who lives in sunny Sicilian in a splendid sea front apartment and dines on fine food. He is lively, excitable, and constantly gesticulating, a classic Italian stereotype. He really doesn't seem to have a care in the world apart from making sure that his next meal will be superb and avoiding another crisis with his long distance girlfriend Livia. (In the later books, he worries about getting older, but this never comes up in the TV show.)The show takes you into a world you haven't seen before. The sun, ocean and parched landscape with old, pastel, partially crumbling buildings are almost unreal. This is enhanced by the complete absence of other people or vehicles on the streets. Originally, this was the result of the producers trying to find a place that would be quieter and easier to shoot. Later, they concluded that it added a dreamlike quality to the production and did it on purpose. They were right. (It is jarring to see the prequal, Young Montalbano, where the streets show a normal amount of activity.)The plots are OK, ranging from typical serial killings to kidnapping, etc. It is all done in a gentler way than we are used to seeing. In Sicily, it seems, relationships are more important and less judgmental. It is just a slower, more languid life down there in the heat and the sun. This is reflected in the virtual absence of violence, although he and his men sometimes wield their guns and there is a small amount of gunplay in some episodes. However, the main reason for watching is the Sicilian landscape and the characters. Montalbano commands the loyalty of his equally excitable, team, most prominently Mimi, his number two and unabashed ladies' man, and Fazio, his absolutely reliable assistant. There are also lesser team members, such as Galuzzo, who is a little fast on the trigger, and Gallo, who drives like a madman, plus a few more. And, of course, there is Catarella, the comic relief who has major trouble opening and closing doors and can never get a name right. (He is even funnier in the books, where the translation does much more with his rapid speech and Sicilian dialect.) Perhaps the best secondary character, however, is the medical examiner Pasquano. I also like Balduccio Sanagra, the elderly Mafia Don. He is far more authentic and convincing than anyone you've ever seen on the Sopranos or any American show.He and Montalbano engage in a running dialog of mutual insults that is often hilarious. (Again, this portrayed much better in the books.). The show is also unusual in that it doesn't center on polished looking 20/30 somethings. Most the people you see on screen are over forty and many are elderly with all their rough edges showing. Even the minor characters have, well character. They look and talk like authentic Sicilians, probably because they are. There is some downside to the show. The continuity is very poor at times. Montalbano often suddenly shows up in a different place with no explanation for how or why he got there and what he wants to do. It is very helpful to have read the books to follow the TV show, which also often omits much of the background and rationale for his actions and conclusions. Reading the books helps, but this show really needs much better editing.Following the subtitles is difficult at times. The actors also speak very, very fast. I mean very fast. The subtitles change rapidly. Even then, they must severely truncate the dialog. You sometimes hear a word of Italian or a name in the dialogue that doesn't appear in the subtitles. I can seldom watch an entire two-hour movie in a single sitting with eye fatigue. The translation itself also often leaves a lot to be desired, as it often contains obvious, nonsensical errors.Lastly, it is hard not comparing the TV show to the books. I have already mentioned where the books are far better. As might imagined, they are better at explication and translation. Camilleri also does a lot of word play make a lot of literary references that don't appear on TV. While the books are generally better than the TV show, the TV does have some advantages over the books. The books are riddled with Camileri's leftist ideology, especially on issues of immigration and occupational safety. Fortunately, the TV show omits most of it. (The British could learn a lesson from this.) The Montalbano of the books is never described (apart from having a mustache), so seeing him gives a much stronger impression of what he is like.Overall, Montalbano is a nice change despite the shortcomings. It takes you into a world you haven't seen before with humor, a slower pace, and a set of wonderfully colorful and authentic characters. But I'd read the books first.

I have to admit that every time I watched this series on TV, my feelings were a mix bag full of disgust, ridiculousness and helplessness. Allow me to tell you why: This series is supposed to be a quite serious drama, because it involved murders, homicides, heavy crimes, thefts, forgeries, assaults, drugs and so on that needed Montalbano and his detective on that island to solve those crimes. But the amateurish screenplay writer didn't know the exact procedures of police works, he just dreamed up everything that he thought to be easily and conveniently added into the storyline, the scenarios and the plot. His poor logic also could not distinguish what a police drama should be, all he could come up was just "would be(s)". Nor he could distinguish the genres between drama and comedy or, comedy and farce.In order to dramatize the series for those who got the same problems of logic, I mean, the viewers, this screenplay writer had made Luca Zingaretti who played the role as Commissario Salvo Montalbano, a quite old, bald, short built, bow-legged actor, to become a sex symbol from Italy, making lot of female characters fell for him, allowing him to get involved in a lot of romantic entanglements, and then finally, got him a fiancée from Genoa, a much taller woman who always threatened to leave him and dissolve the long and tiresome engagement.Since the screenplay writer could not clearly distinguish what a drama from a comedy or a farce, what qualifications needed to be a policeman, he put a guy, a very controversial character, an actor named Angelo Russo, to play the role of Agente Catarella, a extremely stupid yet extremely capable character in the police force, as the receptionist, phone answering shtick, a clumsy, awkward almost to a moron-level stupid guy to be a policeman, and at the same time, since the screenplay writer did not have the basic education in logic, he also made the stupid guy a quite competitive and smart computer researcher. What a baloney! A moron/clown-like guy could be a policeman? It only happened in a Italian TV series.Then again, there were countless problematic flaws in the directing and the editing. For instance, let's just take from those scenes from the latest Season3, the poor sequences of the different times of the day were just astounding: You have to pay closer attention to how they poorly edited and patched the sequences of the time; they left from the place to investigate a crime scene at night, yet when the next scene appeared, it suddenly became a day time with sunshine. Are you telling me, from A place to the B location needed at least 12 hours on that island? When Montalbano met his fiancée in the broad daylight, then suddenly in the next scene coming up, it was after dark late at night; again, meeting in the early afternoon outside of the police station, then got in the car, drove away, then reached the restaurant around 8:00PM? How far they went? they drove from the east of the island to a restaurant on the west side? There were so many scenes and settings that couldn't link logically. I just wish that I could be an Italian, then all the stupid arrangements and the logic problems would be solved and disappeared. Then again, there is a very encouraging message to those who are bald, short built with bow legs and over 50s, don't be in despair, guys, you could be as sexy as the main character, Commissario Salvo Montalbano.

Inspector Montalbano ("Il commissario Montalbano") is based on the novels of Italian writer Andrea Camilleri. The books have been expertly translated into English by Stephen Sartarelli. If you have read another of my reviews about the Finnish series "Private Eye Varies," you'll know I am a fan of the Scandinavian mysteries, which are simply brilliant. The Italian mysteries are brilliant, as well, but in very different ways. Montalbano is a stellar example of the latter. These Italian mystery shows are often humorous, contain a strong message of morality, and the major characters are usually bigger than life. Sometimes (as in the Don Matteo mysteries), the relationships of the characters are really what the show is about, and the mystery is… ancillary. The Montalbano action primarily takes place in Vigàta, Sicily. One of the great joys of this series is watching the astonishing Sicilian regional actors hired to do "bit" parts. One can only sit in wonder at the talent on display. And the fascinating physical appearance of many of the actors. It is truly spectacular. These "minor" roles often bring a lot of humor to the series. You'll find yourself watching, mesmerized by them, and for a brief time totally taken away from the main plot (which, inevitably, you always are led back to). One of my favorites is a woman who plucks a chicken while being interviewed. It is unforgettable acting. Another favorite scene is with a man and his parrot, the latter singing "The Internationale." It is so fantastic to watch Montalbano as he (respectfully) interacts with these crazy characters. There are, in fact, too many such scenes to mention. Montalbano has been played since 1999 by the amazing actor Luca Zingaretti. If Inspector Montalbano epitomizes Italian mysteries (arguable, to be sure), Zingaretti is the embodiment of the actors. He's brilliant. He plays both tragedy and comedy with equal skill. And I just love watching him. He is a joy. He reflects us in his bemused but respectful treatment of the odd characters he meets. Zingaretti seems to be an actor who brings out excellence in all those with whom he shares scenes. He is indeed special.For an American audience, the seemingly exaggerated gestures made by Montalbano and others can be a little off-putting (I believe this is somewhat intentionally done in the series – I remember wondering at first if Italian men really, REALLY, behave that way), but there is nothing off-putting about Zingaretti. Nor the other wonderful major characters: Fazio, Augello and Catarella… And, oh but can I single out Catarella for special mention? This would seem to be a sort of "stock" Italian character – comic relief, to be sure. We see similar characters in other series (Natalina in Don Matteo, for example), too. But Catarella stands out. He's truly one of a kind. And I laugh every time he runs into Montalbano's door. Every single time! There is a lot of political and social commentary in the books, and this comes out in the movies. It would be easy to say "Italy is a messed up place," and, for sure, the country and Sicily have a history and reputation that are undeniable. But Montalbano is loyal and true and just. He can do things that are surprising because they would seem to be outside of the law. But ultimately, he is evenhanded and fair. This "fairness" is pervasive in the books and the series. One of the things I like most about this series is its languid pace. There are scenes that go on forever, where nothing happens, and you start to wonder how they can even exist. For example, scenes where Salvo Montalbano is just walking along, going somewhere, thinking. They go on and on. It's wonderful and so very different from the ADHD sort of Law and Order shows we are used to in this country. Another of my favorite things is how beautifully done this series is. The sets are often spectacular, whether it is the inside of someone's apartment, or inside an abandoned warehouse, or even inside an old, unused, underground tunnel. They are, visually, masterpieces to behold.This is a great series. Very much worth watching. I am so glad that Zingaretti has not grown tired of the role. That all the actors are still making this series. And thanks to MHz Worldview International Mystery for airing shows like this and others in the U.S. I can't come close to expressing how glorious (and important!) it is to have these international productions available.And note: Inspector Montalbano is so beloved and popular that another series, a prequel: The Young Montalbano ("Il giovane Montalbano") was made starting in 2012. It is equally excellent. This second, prequel, series has much to offer, in both similar and different ways. Watch for my review!

I really like this series of DVDs. I have read all of the novels by Andrea Camilerri and I think they have done a good job of capturing the "spirit" of Montalbano: he appreciates good food, beautiful women and chasing bad guys...not necessarily in that order as his long suffering girlfriend Livia finds out when he investigates a case while telling her they are on holiday.Not speaking Italian, I have to read the subtitles, and they have done a very good job since I don't read particularly fast and I still don't have to resort to the pause button on the DVD player all that much.The thing that I appreciate the most is the scenery of Sicily. Camilerri's books can't give you a true sense of how beautiful it "seems". I say "seems" because I find the portrayal of daily Sicilian life a little strange: there are hardly ANY people milling about in the background of most of the exterior shots. There isn't any real car traffic either. I don't know anything about Italian cinema so I can't say how common this might be. Perhaps there are union rules which make actor "extras" too expensive. I suspect it might be an artistic choice though. It certainly makes you want to visit this imaginary Sicily though: beautiful beaches and historic ruins completely devoid of tourists in T shirts and flip flops. Also, while Camilerri's books do indicate that Montalbano's house overlooks the beach...you don't really get a sense of how unrealistic that might be until you see it on the DVD: they must pay police detectives 20 times what they pay them in real life for him to afford his "house". After you see the house, you expect his car to be a Ferrari, but, strangely, it seems pretty ordinary.To sum up, even if you aren't a huge fan of mystery or police procedurals, you can enjoy these DVDs simply for the stunning scenery: it might be better than actually going there and coming up against the realities of modern life.