Inspector Montalbano

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Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,090 posts

245 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
quotequote all
Anyone else been watching this Italian series?

I think it's great. Makes me want to learn italian. I've already picked up a few swear words from it!

AnotherClarkey

3,589 posts

188 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
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My wife is Italian and she has to use the English subtitles sometimes - it is very Sicilian in parts!. Excellent swearing.

dave stew

1,502 posts

166 months

Thursday 1st November 2012
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We always watch the BBC4 foreign Saturday night slot. This is quite different to the more morose Scandi shows that have been aired, but very enjoyable all the same.

Last week's was quite gruesome with the guys being thrown to their deaths in a well.

Good Alfa action, too. The current series has 159 police cars!

onomatopoeia

3,469 posts

216 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
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AnotherClarkey said:
My wife is Italian and she has to use the English subtitles sometimes - it is very Sicilian in parts!. Excellent swearing.
One of my friends is from Bologna and she says the same, sometimes her eyes drift down to the subtitles as the dialect they use is very regional. Apparently Italy has a much bigger North/South divide than England...

I am learning Italian, still very much a beginner though, but of all the Italian programmes I have watched this is the one I find most difficult to understand any part of the dialogue without subtitles.

AnotherClarkey

3,589 posts

188 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
quotequote all
onomatopoeia said:
One of my friends is from Bologna and she says the same, sometimes her eyes drift down to the subtitles as the dialect they use is very regional. Apparently Italy has a much bigger North/South divide than England...

I am learning Italian, still very much a beginner though, but of all the Italian programmes I have watched this is the one I find most difficult to understand any part of the dialogue without subtitles.
The UK has many accents but very few actual dialects where the language is significantly different. I used to work in the Veneto and the dialect there is more like Catalan than Italian in many cases. There is also significant difference even between cities that are close together like Venice and Padua. Some people (generally OAP's) in the village where my other half comes from who can't really speak Italian and never bother.

stevejh

799 posts

203 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
quotequote all
I've been watching this as well and really enjoying it. What fascinates me is that the characters either live in a huge apartment or house full of antiques or they live in a one room hovel. Does nobody on Sicily live in a three bed semi full of Ikea furniture?

Oh, and the streets always seem so empty. The most cars you see are parked outside the police station.


onomatopoeia

3,469 posts

216 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
quotequote all
stevejh said:
I've been watching this as well and really enjoying it. What fascinates me is that the characters either live in a huge apartment or house full of antiques or they live in a one room hovel. Does nobody on Sicily live in a three bed semi full of Ikea furniture?
Montalbano lives in a B&B hehehttp://www.lacasadimontalbano.com/

I was talking to a Sicilian last week, I could have asked her about IKEA furniture and three bed semi detached houses ...

Luftgekuhlt

853 posts

189 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
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He's on a one man crusade to make knackered old Fiats look cool.


AnotherClarkey

3,589 posts

188 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
quotequote all
Luftgekuhlt said:
He's on a one man crusade to make knackered old Fiats look cool.
Indeed! 'La Tipo grigio di Montalbano' even has its own facebook page!

When I was in Italy many people I knew were hanging on to old Tipos - once all the loose bits have fallen off and been dispensed with they seem totally indestructible.

Russ35

2,491 posts

238 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
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Love watching these, and the other foreign crime shows they show on BBC4.

They also have a knack of casting very attractive females in each episode of Inspector Montalbano.


Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,090 posts

245 months

Friday 2nd November 2012
quotequote all
Russ35 said:
Love watching these, and the other foreign crime shows they show on BBC4.

They also have a knack of casting very attractive females in each episode of Inspector Montalbano.
Yes, and they are all want to get him to bed!

Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,090 posts

245 months

Sunday 11th November 2012
quotequote all
Quick question about last nights episode as I think I may have dozed off for a couple of minutes. boxedin

What was the connection between the mad old couple at the start and the plot?

Cheers

Edited by Grandad Gaz on Sunday 11th November 18:04

stevejh

799 posts

203 months

Sunday 11th November 2012
quotequote all
Grandad Gaz said:
Quick question about last nights episode as I think I may have dozed off for a couple of minutes. boxedin

What was the connection between the mad old couple at the start and the plot?

Cheers

Edited by Grandad Gaz on Sunday 11th November 18:04
The first blow-up doll was found in their flat - although I'm not sure how the murderer got it there. Spent all day yesterday moving house so was also dozing off all through the evening so I may have missed a crucial bit.

On a side note, I found the first ever episode from 1999 online and it was fascinating to see how little has changed, all the same characters played by the same actors (with a bit more hair), and the same cars. We also saw a lot more of Livia (in both senses).

Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,090 posts

245 months

Thursday 19th September 2013
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I'm enjoying the new young Montalbano series now thumbup

eccles

13,720 posts

221 months

Thursday 19th September 2013
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I'm enjoying it as well. The actor playing the young Montalbano seem to have studied well and got his little mannerisms right.

iiyama

2,201 posts

200 months

Thursday 19th September 2013
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When's it being shown?

Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,090 posts

245 months

Thursday 19th September 2013
quotequote all
iiyama said:
When's it being shown?
Saturday night BBC4, 9pm

Next saturday will be the third in the series, so it's been on a while.

Balmoral

40,660 posts

247 months

Friday 20th September 2013
quotequote all
I'm enjoying it too, apart from the enforced suspension of disbelief!

It's set less than ten years earlier, in that time his Tipo has barely changed, yet he's gone from being tall, long in the leg with a thick head of hair, to being short, particularly short legged, bow legged and bald hehe

The same with Caterella, clearly recognisable from his character, but that's about it.

They could have made some effort to cast actors with at least a passing resemblance, if it was set decades earlier then yes, but for just a few years earlier?

rofl

onomatopoeia

3,469 posts

216 months

Monday 23rd September 2013
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I do like the way he really takes his food seriously in this series, pretty much my approach to dining - eat, enjoy the food and don't talk until it's gone.

rlw

3,321 posts

236 months

Tuesday 24th September 2013
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Balmoral said:
I'm enjoying it too, apart from the enforced suspension of disbelief!

It's set less than ten years earlier, in that time his Tipo has barely changed, yet he's gone from being tall, long in the leg with a thick head of hair, to being short, particularly short legged, bow legged and bald hehe

The same with Caterella, clearly recognisable from his character, but that's about it.

They could have made some effort to cast actors with at least a passing resemblance, if it was set decades earlier then yes, but for just a few years earlier?

rofl
I thought that most of the characters were immediately recognizable - Mimi this week was, as was Fazio's son a couple of weeks ago - but without doubt the young Livia is even better looking than the older one (who was pretty gorgeous anyway..................)

And the cars are all the bloody same but there was a 75 in it this week, and a Mk1 Golf which was a little out of time for 1991.