Montalbano's back!

Has anyone been watching Montalbano over the years?

It's not to everyone's taste, admittedly, and subtitles might put people off, but this 20-year old series does have an addictive charm!

It's back on BBC4, having started yesterday with the first of two episodes, and more are due next year, I believe.


The author of the novels, Andrea Camilleri, likes to make socio-political statements in them, which is quite interesting from an outsider's point of view! He likes to stir things up a bit!

This current episode deals with the boat people being trafficked into Sicily, a problem which is as contentious and divisive in Italy as Brexit might be here.

However, those statements are easy to ignore if you just want some simple crime-solving in a Sicilian setting!



By the way, if you want to use the programmes to practice your Italian comprehension, forget it........ it's far too fast and a lot of Sicilian dialect words are used. However, with the subtitles to help, you can pick out quite a few words and phrases here and there.


If I remember, they also tried a spinoff....." Young Montalbano"..... a bit like the Endeavour spin-off from Morse.


Ok, "The Bridge" it isn't. It's more of a chocolate eclair than the Nordic Noir series were, but it's nice to have some sunshine and warm sea, plates of pasta and aromatic espressos in a detective series!

Re: Montalbano's back!

I'm a fan of old Salvo meself, so much so that I have a a box-set of the first two series'.

Last night's programme with the small section on the immigrants piling into the country was, I feel, just to draw attention to their plight, especially the young girl being raped by traffickers. It had nothing to do with the overall story except for the friend of the murder victim who was able to speak Arabic and so translated the young girl's story.

You are correct about the Sicilian dialect and the rate of talking. Italians do tend to speak quickly with no apparent spaces between words but I too (I'm learning Italian) can pick out words I know (some swear-words included ) and some variations that are not usual in Italian.

I noticed that the coroner and Montalbano's adversary Pasquano was mentioned a few times and excuses made for his absence. The actor playing him died in 2017 so presumably his name won't be mentioned again in the series?

Re: Montalbano's back!

Some of the subtitle translations are amusing....... Mimi coming in and announcing that his balls are completely broken!


Yes I wondered about the coroner.
I suppose they might get another actor to take over the part.

I wonder if the boat people thing will appear again in the next episode?

Catarella was on stonking form!

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The scenery is lovely but I never want to watch Monalbano ,it’s not gritty enough for me .

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You're right... it's definitely not gritty!

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Aye, Caterella.

In the real world of course he would be sacked but he's been there since the Giovane Montalbano days so I suppose he's there to provide a bit of light relief with his antics. Did you notice the scratches on his face from when he put the cat in the cat-box? I laughed out loud at those.

Re: Montalbano's back!

Yes, and also when he did the dog with a long stick act, trying to get through the door!

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Montalbano is my favourite Police Inspector and the Police Station he commands is unlike any British Police Station.

There is such camaraderie and they really care about each other and their love lives and families
Of course, everything stops for lunch including wine and they do actually cash criminals as well.
Caty is a Hoot.

How lovely to live in a Villa overlooking the ocean as Salvo does. His girlfriends are tall blonde and attractive.
It is really someones Private Villa rented by the Film Company.

In Sicily where the Series is filmed, the Town is now a Tourist Attraction and one can eat in the Restaurants he frequents.
The food is always fresh and delicious

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There are lots of short clips of Catarella in YouTube.

However, because he speaks at the speed of light, and there are no subtitles, the humour is lost on me.

There's also a nice YouTube clip of the cast guesting on an Italian chat show. Catarella is the only one of the five who comes in character!
No subtitles again, but some of it can be understood, if you know some Italian. (Still a hard slog, though!)
Luca Zingaretti looks different, though, because he's clean-shaven for once!
'Fazio' also looks different, as he has grown a moustache and goatee!

https://youtu.be/Ou-LUMSNz5o

Re: Montalbano's back!

Just catching up on Saturday's episode. Good to see that the death of the late Marcello Perracchio's character Dr. Pasquano was included in the episode with respect and dignity. Very touching.

Some comments made by Luca Zingaretti (Montalbano) in an earlier interview said that after a shaky start, they became firm friends and he was very much saddened by his death. Some of the sparring matches in the series were ad-libbed by the characters and gave a comic twist to what were, in some instances subjects.