go ahead

BLACK, WHITE, YELLOW

Rai began regular television broadcasting in January 1954. At the end of the year it released its first detective film, Il processo di Mary Dugan, based on an American play. At first most of them were overly theatrical, but in just a few years that style began to change. One of the earliest Rai's detective series, the all-Italian Aprite: Polizia! appeared in 1958. Lieutenant Sheridan burst onto Italy's screens the next year, played by Ubaldo Lay in a white mack.  Inspector Maigret turned up in 1964, played by Gino Cervi, in a new series destined to last almost a decade.

Sulle tracce del Crimine

Viaggio nel giallo e nero Rai. La mostra

Dal 7 Ottobre 2020 al 6 Gennaio 2021

ROMA CAPITALE

Virginia Raggi, Sindaca; Luca Bergamo, Vicesindaco con delega alla Crescita culturale

SOVRINTENDENZA CAPITOLINA AI BENI CULTURALI

Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Sovrintendente Capitolina ai Beni Culturali

Servizio di Staff – Comunicazione e Relazioni Esterne

Isabella Toffoletti, Responsabile; Teresa Franco, Filomena La Manna con Luca D’Orazio, Comunicazione e Relazioni Esterne

Servizio Mostre e Attività Espositive e Culturali

Federica Pirani, Responsabile; Mirella Di Dino, Coordinamento Tecnico-Scientifico; Monica Casini, Francesco Salatino, Coordinamento Amministrativo; Monica Zelinotti con Maria Cucchi e Simonetta De Cubellis, Collaborazione all’allestimento

MUSEO DI ROMA IN TRASTEVERE

Direzione Ville, Parchi Storici e Musei Scientifici

Giancarlo Babusci, Direttore

Servizio Musei di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

Sergio Guarino, Responsabile; Silvana Bonfili con Alfonsa Riverso, Museo e mostre temporanee; Roberta Perfetti, Comunicazione Promozione Eventi; Silvia Telmon, Conservazione e Didattica; Donatella Occhiuzzi, Collezioni D.E.A. e Iconografico

MINISTERO PER I BENI E LE ATTIVITÀ CULTURALI E PER IL TURISMO

Dario Franceschini, Ministro per i beni e le attività culturali e per il turismo

RAI TECHE

Maria Pia Ammirati, Direttore; Gianluca Picciotti, Vicedirettore

ZÈTEMA

Remo Tagliacozzo, Amministratore Unico; Roberta Biglino, Direttore Generale; Claudio Di Biagio con Claudia Di Lorenzo e Sara Zappalà, Coordinamento;  Luisa Fontana, Comunicazione integrata; Natalia Lancia, Promozione; Patrizia Morici, Ufficio stampa; Patrizia Bracci con Marta Barberio Corsetti, Rapporti e comunicazioni istituzionali

LA MOSTRA: PRODUZIONE E CURA

Da un’idea di Stefano Nespolesi

A cura di Maria Pia Ammirati e Peppino Ortoleva

Progetto grafico a cura di Rai Direzione Creativa; Progetto scenografico, Carlo Canè; Supervisione organizzativa, Barbara Francesconi; Coordinamento editoriale, Susanna Gianandrea; Organizzazione Rai Teche, Susanna Tatarella, Andrea Di Consoli, Laura Massacra;  Fotografie, Stefano Nespolesi; Elaborazione digitale delle immagini, Sergio Gigliati; Testi, Peppino Ortoleva; Ricerche e documentazione, Carla Consalvi, Susanna Gianandrea, Emanuele Gagliardi, Manuela Zulian, Maria Paola Calcaprina, Pamela Casadei, Elena Rossi, Ombretta Novelli, Silvia Bruni, Giovanna Lipari; Consulenza archivio audiovisivo, Sebastiano Di Paola; Gestione Diritti Audiovisivi, Gianfranco Bono; Diritti d’Autore, Silvia D’Angelantonio, Maria Cristina Alfonsi; Digitalizzazione audiovisivi, Giorgio Balocco, Davide Mazzucco, Daniele Liotto, Gabriele Di Matteo, Diego Trigilia, Davide Adornato; Ambientazioni sonore a cura di Susanna Gianandrea, Regia di Maria Baratta, Edizione sonora,  Claudio Colazzo, Rai Centro Produzione Torino; Allestimento scenografico, Carlo Canè, Vittorio Corvi, Valentina Pezzini; Allestimenti, Rai Centro Produzione Roma, Vicedirettore, Marco Cunsolo, Coordinamento organizzativo, Antonin Joseph Di Santantonio; Luci, Giovanni Tosti; Impianto audio e video, Silvio Rossi e Gianni Piccioni; Traduzioni testi, Star7 Global Content Torino

In collaborazione con: Rai Direzione Comunicazione, Rai Direzione Creativa, Rai Fiction, Rai Centro Produzione Roma, Rai Centro Produzione Torino, Rai Centro Ricerche Torino, Rai Com, Rai Libri

Si ringraziano

Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori

INA

Si ringrazia per la concessione delle foto e degli estratti video:

Casanova Multimedia; Cattleya; Clemart srl; Compagnia Leone Cinematografica; Cross Productions; Dauphine Film Company; Endemol Shine Italy; Fremantle; Garbo Produzioni; Italian International Film; ITV Movie; LDM Comunicazione; Lux Vide; Ocean Productions; Palomar; Rodeo Drive; Solaris Media; Tangram Film.

Si ringrazia per la concessione di materiale documentale:

Archivio La Stampa; Archivio storico Fondazione Corriere della Sera; Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino (Ufficio catalogazione e valorizzazione raccolte del XIX e XX secolo); Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel; Centro studi e documentazione del Teatro di Roma - Teatro Nazionale; Clementoni; Corriere della Sera; Diabolik - Astorina Srl; Eredi di Dino Buzzati; L’Europeo RCS MediaGroup; Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori; Gruppo Arnoldo Mondadori Editore; The Italian Literary Agency; Max Bunker e 1000VolteMeglio Publishing; Museo della Radio e della Televisione Rai; Museo Nazionale del Cinema - Bibliomediateca Mario Gromo; Oblomov Edizioni; La Repubblica; Salani Editore; Enrico Salvatori; TMS Entertainment Co., Ltd; Lorenzo Viganò.

Un particolare ringraziamento a:  

Daniele Airola Gnota; Gino Alberico; Alberto Allegranza; Antonella Angelini; Francesco Angelone; Azzurra Ariè; Guglielmo Ariè; Riccardo Barbagallo; Valentina Balzarotti Barbieri; Cristina Bariani; Ariella Beddini; Luca Bernabei; Rossella Bonadonna; Laura Bortolozzi; Claudia Bozzone; Zelda Buffoni; Benedetta Buonomini; Raffaela Busia; Silvia Cabasino; Marco Camilli; Andrea Canino; Paolo Carella; Annalisa Caporicci; Piero Cartello; Carlo Casoli; Patrizio Celli; Massimo Corcelli; Alessandro Corsetti; Domenico De Gaetano; Guido De Laurentiis; Tarquinio Deli; Saverio D’Ercole; Simonetta Di Camillo; Annarita Di Carlo; Francesca Di Donna; Giovanni Di Giuseppe; Francesca Romana Di Grazia; Daniele Di Lorenzo; Marco Di Pasqua; Dante Errico; Susanna Fancelli; Sonia Farnesi; Cristina Ferrua; Chiara Friggi; Andrea Gabrieli; Benedetta Galbiati; Simone Gattoni; Mario Gerosa; Giada Giannecchini; Claudio Girivetto; Emanuele Giussani; Sergio Giussani; Mario Gomboli; Paolo Granata; Barbara Griffini; Walter Ingrassia; Zoé Laboue; Sebastian Lanzara; Matteo Levi; Roberto Levi; Paola Lucisano; Duc-Hanh Luong; Marco Magagnin; Pierluigi Magliocca; Isabella Manzollino; Cinzia Mariani; Marco Marini; Massimo Martino; Gianpiero Mattachini; Micaela Mazza; Marco Medea; Anastasia Michelagnoli; Rita Morelli; Alberto Morello; Monica Moro; Maria Adua Nacchia; Barbara Negrini; Roberto Orlandini; Nicoletta Pacini; Chiara Pagotto; Sonia Paitoni; Barbara Pellegrino; Donata Pesenti Campagnoni; Fabio Pezzetti Tonion; Alessandra Pezzotti; Germana Pierucci; Andrea Plebe; Stefano Pogelli; Riccardo Polignieri; Anna Pomara; Filippo Porcelli; Lisa Praticò; Chiara Quaglia; Silvia Re; Roberta Ricciardelli; Elisabetta Rigotti; Maddalena Rinaldo; Roberto Rossetto; Guido Rossi; Giulia Sabbatini; Fabiola Sanesi; Antonella Sarti; Federico Scardamaglia; Priscilla Raffaella Secchi; Elisabetta Sgarbi; Roberta Solari; Paola Stramazzi; Roberto Stringa; Mileva Stupar; Chiara Supplizi; Liana Suppressa; Maurizio Tini; Francesca Tramma; Luca Traverso; Antonio Valenti; Claudia Vicini; Lorenzo Viganò; Gianluca Visalli; Massimo Visca; Davide Volpe; Delphine Wibaux.

Rai Teche rimane disponibile a riconoscere i compensi per eventuali diritti già non acquisiti.

Supporto organizzativo ZÈTEMA

In collaborazione con FONDAZIONE ARNOLDO E ALBERTO MONDADORI e INA

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE 1954 – 1968  

• Più rosa che giallo - Delitto alla televisione, directed by Alberto Bonucci, 1962 
• Dieci poveri negretti, directed by Alessandro Brissoni, 1955
• Sette piccole croci, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, 1957
• Le inchieste del commissario Maigret, directed by Mario Landi, 1964 - 1972
• Aprite: Polizia! - Jazz freddo, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1958
• Giallo Club - Invito al poliziesco, Rapina al grattacielo, directed by Stefano De Stefani, 1960
• Le avventure di Laura Storm, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque, 1965-1966
• La donna rossa, directed by Vito Molinari, 1957
• Melissa, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1966
• Sherlock Holmes - L’ultimo dei Baskerville, directed by Guglielmo Morandi, 1968
• Le sorelle omicidi, directed by Claudio Fino, 1958
• La sciarpa, directed by Guglielmo Morandi, 1963
• I figli di Medea, directed by Anton Giulio Majano, 1959

GEORGES SIMENON AND INSPECTOR MAIGRET

Georges Simenon (1903–1989), was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. His novels and short stories, sometimes published under a pseudonym, add up to hundreds of works. Among these are the 76 Inspector Maigret novels, the first 19 of which were published over just three years, between 1931 and 1934, and the last five of which came out between 1970 and 1972. For many years, the critics did not take much stock in their praise for the writer. Now, though, he is recognised as one of the 20th century's greats, in part for his hard-hitting yet human detective stories, with their intricate atmospheres and ever more ingenious mysteries. A group of screenwriters, among them playwright Diego Fabbri, made the Maigret stories for Rai between 1964 and 1972. At their heart, in the role of Maigret, was actor Gino Cervi, who became synonymous with the character in the Italian imagination.  

DETECTIVE STORIES MEET NOIR

Rai brought new detective heroes to Italy's screens in the late '60s and early '70s. The portly Nero Wolfe, played by Tino Buazzelli, and G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown, more of a paradox than a priest, played by Renato Rascel, expanded on the classic detective character. But then something very new and unexpected came along, in the form of a totally different, and very successful, story, Il segno del comando, which combined dark and supernatural elements with the mysteries of a detective series. The era of fantasy had begun. In those same years, as Italy was strained by new tensions, a new genre was to enjoy a huge sway in television listings. That genre was noir. Rai broadcast not only American classics but the efforts of Dario Argento, a director who on both television and the silver screen was thinking outside the box. The highly original mini-series Dov’è Anna? also came out at this time.

SHERLOCK HOUND BY HAYAO MIYAZAKI

The Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, born in 1941, was awarded an Oscar in 2003 for The Enchanted City, and is internationally recognised as one of the greatest innovators of the genre. In the early 1980s, Rai proposed a co-production with the Japanese company Tokyo Movie Shinsha, to be directed by Miyazaki. A faithful and inventive interpretation of the great Sherlock Holmes, with Dr. Watson at his side and in perpetual conflict with his enemy, Moriarty. The 26 episodes of the series aired in Italy and Japan in 1984.

NOIR, FANTASY, COMEDY, ROMANCE 1969 – 1983

• La porta sul buio - Il tram, directed by Sirio Bernadotte (Dario Argento), 1973
• Nero Wolfe - Circuito chiuso, directed by Giuliana Berlinguer, 1969
• Bebawi - Il delitto di via Lazio, directed by Michele Massa, 1983
• Il sospetto, directed by Daniele D'Anza, 1972
• Joe Petrosino, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1972
• La porta sul buio, by Dario Argento, 1973
• A come Andromeda, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, 1972
• Il segno del comando, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1971
• L’amaro caso della baronessa di Carini, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1975
• I racconti di padre Brown - Le colpe del principe Saradine, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi, 1971
• Il giudice e il suo boia, directed by Daniele D’Anza, 1972
• Un certo Harry Brent, directed by Leonardo Cortese, 1970
• Dov’è Anna?, directed by Piero Schivazappa, 1976
• Le inchieste del commissario Maigret, directed by Mario Landi, 1964 - 1972
• I giovedì della signora Giulia, directed by Paolo Nuzzi e Massimo Scaglione, 1970
• F.B.I. - Francesco Bertolazzi Investigatore, directed by Ugo Tognazzi, 1970

THE EXPLOSION OF THE CRIME GENRE

In the 1950s, crime was already the most popular genre in Italian publishing. In addition to Mondadori, other publishers began to release series. One of them was Garzanti, who initially specialised in hard-hitting American crime novels, starting with the Mickey Spillane series. They later made room for refined French authors like Boileau and Narcejac, and Italians like Giorgio Scerbanenco. The Longanesi publishing house, with its i Gialli Proibiti ('forbidden crime stories'), reached wide circulation, mainly by publishing Ian Fleming's James Bond spy novels. Other publishing houses published cheap crime series, some with interesting titles, under labels like I Narratori Americani del Brivido ('American narrators of thrills') and I Gialli dello Schedario ('filing cabinet crimes').

LAURA STORM AND OTHER FEMALE DETECTIVES

Laura Storm, the first female investigator on Italian television was not a foreigner as her surname, Storm, might suggest; it was a pseudonym. She was not a professional detective, but a journalist with an instinct for crime, and has a complicated, competitive and occasionally collaborative relationship with the police. Rai's first detective series with a female protagonist (1965–1966) had hints of what was known at the time as a soft thriller: crime stories, but light enough not to be taken too seriously.  Female investigators in more dramatic roles would come later, starting in the 1990s.  Characters like the inspector from Linda e il brigadiere (1997–2000), Lisa Milani's chief inspector in Donna Detective  (2007 and 2010), or the policewomen who appeared in the police procedurals, for example La squadra, are representative of this change. They played the leading roles in stories that are sometimes ironic, sometimes harsh, often showing oppression and violence towards women, as in Bella da morire.

WOMEN DETECTIVES

• Le avventure di Laura Storm, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque, 1965 - 1966
• La vedova e il piedipiatti, directed by Mario Landi, 1979
• Linda e il brigadiere, directed by Gianfrancesco Lazotti and Alberto Simone, 1997 - 2000
• Lui e lei, directed by Luciano Manuzzi and Francesca Lodoli, 1998 - 1999
• La squadra, 2000 - 2007
• Provaci ancora Prof!, 2005 - 2017
• Donna Detective,directed by Cinzia TH Torrini and Fabrizio Costa, 2007 and 2010
• Non uccidere, directed by Giuseppe Gagliardi, 2015
• L'allieva, directed by Fabrizio Costa and Luca Ribuoli, 2016 and 2018
• I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone, directed by Carlo Carlei and Alessandro D’Alatri, 2017 - 2018
• Il capitano Maria, directed by Andrea Porporati, 2018
• Imma Tataranni – Sostituto procuratore, directed by Francesco Amato, 2019
• Bella da morire, directed by Andrea Molaioli, 2020

FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT AND INSPECTOR BÄRLACH

The Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) is considered one of the 20th century's greatest playwrights and writers in the German language, as much for his plays as for his witty stories. Not to mention his detective stories. Rai has produced several of Dürrenmatt's detective works. Il giudice e il suo boia and Il sospetto, starring Inspector Hans Bärlach, were turned into miniseries in 1972 under Daniele D’Anza's direction. Masterfully played by Paolo Stoppa, Bärlach is an old, sickly man driven more by his critical awareness than the traditional detective's flair. In solving his thrilling mysteries he takes some of the great moral dilemmas of our time head on. La promessa, which became a television film in 1979 under Alberto Negrin's direction, turned all the rules of the genre on their head. The subtitle says it all: 'A Requiem for the Detective Novel'.

GOTHIC

The gothic genre preceded the first detective stories in literature. The rediscovery of the gothic genre in Italian television begins with an imaginary diary of Byron from 1817. Il segno del comando, a miniseries directed by Daniele D’Anza with Carla Gravina and Ugo Pagliai, is set between the modern day, the Renaissance era and the 19th century, in some of Rome's most evocative locations. It is full of (possible) ghosts and supernatural forces. It had unexpected success, signalling the public's curiosity for forms and narratives that were full of mystery, but different from the classic crime dramas. Other thrillers emerged in its wake, mixtures of history and legend, like L'amaro caso della baronessa di Carini (1975), set in ancient Sicily. At the same time, a mix of mystery, science fiction, and interest in the supernatural gave rise to the short, but much-watched run of fantastical series: A come Andromeda (1972), Gamma (1975), and ESP (1973), that is, the acronym for 'extra-sensory perception'.

CARLO EMILIO GADDA AND INSPECTOR INGRAVALLO

Recognised as one of the greatest Italian writers of the twentieth century, Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973) only wrote one crime novel, Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana. The film adaptation Un maledetto imbroglio, directed by and starring Pietro Germi, was made in 1959, a theatrical production was directed by Luca Ronconi in 1996, and a television miniseries was directed by Piero Schivazappa in 1983. The Pasticciaccio was first published in the magazine "Letteratura" in 1946. It was later made into a book in 1957. Set in wealthy Roman apartments, it resonates with accents from many different parts of Italy, including the rough Molise accent of Inspector Ingravallo, played in the television series by Flavio Bucci, who solves the web of crimes with ironic intuition and human understanding.

RETRACING IL SEGNO DEL COMANDO IN ROME

A mix of thriller and supernatural, the events of the drama Il segno del comando are set in some of the most evocative places in the centre of Rome, full of history and atmosphere. Some of the buildings, streets and squares that the characters pass through are recognisable in this map.

THE INGREDIENTS OF A DETECTIVE STORY

When you watch or read a detective story, you're waiting for a surprise. Whether it's the name of the culprit or developments in the case, it has to be unexpected. That's part of the fun. But you also expect to see some things pop up again and again, from one series to another and from one episode to another. That regularity, that familiarity is also part of the fun. You might compare the classic detective series to a game with certain rules. To begin, it's essential you have a crime, a murder that might be followed by others. And you need a detective to help you find out the culprit. The detective does that through an investigation, putting the clues together to work out what has happened. In the course of the investigation the detective will form various hypotheses, while the audience get worked up inventing their own. The story of the investigation, and the parallel and slowly emerging story of the crime, are the heart of a detective story. At the end there's a solution and we're ready for a new mystery to solve.

The Benson Murder Case, published in September 1929, marked the inauguration of I libri gialli ('the yellow books'), which would later become I gialli Mondadori ('the Mondadori yellows'), a series of books with yellow covers which forged the link between detective novels and that colour in the Italian mind. It was written by S.S. Van Dine, the author known for creating the character of Philo Vance, the dandy investigator played on television by Giorgio Albertazzi. Van Dine was also famous for his '20 rules', which would be followed by most authors of classic crime novels: mysteries that are designed to encourage the reader to try and identify the culprit before the detective does. 

The volume is owned by the Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori Foundation - Mondadori Historic Library

“What would you say if you read all this good stuff about someone in a detective book? 

“That the blackmailer is him! 

“Of course. Because you see, Galimberti, the main duty of an author is to deceive the dear readers about the characters' greater or lesser honesty. The most mysterious and suspicious among them usually have nothing to do with the matter. 

“Hello. Hello! Hello police, this is Duffy! Hello! ”

“Sorry, wrong number. ”

“They came to kill me... they're in the house! And you, you must... There! Did you hear? They hung up! And now they're coming, coming up, coming up the stairs! Put me through, put me through to the police, now! ”

“Yes, I'll call the police, hang up the phone. ”

 

“This was Hot on the heels of Crime. A journey into the world of detectives on Rai. Presented by Peppino Ortoleva.”

THE DARK HEART OF ITALY

The first series of La piovra in 1984, directed by Damiano Damiani and starring Michele Placido in the role of Inspector Corrado Cattani, found immediate success in Italy and many other countries. It would stay at those heights through successive series until 2001. The television detective series focused on the mafia and organised crime, one of the direst plagues to affect our country, as shown by the attacks on judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino and their companions in 1992. Around the same time, several television series, from Nucleo Zero (1984) to Donne armate (1991) addressed terrorism, another dark side to Italian society. Towards the end of the millennium, Rai crime started experimenting with new formats:  the investigations into newsworthy events in the form of thrillers, by Carlo Lucarelli and La squadra, the Italian version of the police procedural, where the stories of a group of policemen and women are intertwined with those of the crimes that they are fighting. 

SHADOWS AND MYSTERIES IN ITALY 1984 - 2000

• La piovra, directed by Damiano Damiani, 1984
• Parole e sangue, directed by Damiano Damiani, 1982
• Il commissario Corso, directed by Alberto Sironi and Gianni Lepre, 1991 - 1992
• Quel treno per Budapest, directed by Paolo Poeti, 1990
• Nucleo Zero, directed by Carlo Lizzani, 1984
• Quattro delitti - Winchester M2, directed by Gian Pietro Calasso, 1979
• Western di cose nostre, directed by Pino Passalacqua, 1984
• L’attentatuni - Il grande attentato, directed by Claudio Bonivento, 2001
• Il cugino americano, directed by Giacomo Battiato, 1986
• Donne armate, directed by Sergio Corbucci, 1991
• La squadra (Season 1), directed by Claudio Norza, 2000
• Blu notte - La grotta della Croara, by Carlo Lucarelli, 1999
• Naso di cane, directed by Pasquale Squitieri, 1986
• A che punto è la notte, directed by Nanni Loy, 1994
• Linda e il brigadiere - Il fratello di Linda, directed by Gianfrancesco Lazotti, 1998
• Don Matteo - Lo straniero, directed by Enrico Oldoini, 2000
• Il commissario Montalbano - Il ladro di merendine, directed by Alberto Sironi, 1999

A NEW CENTURY

The police dramas of the 2000s were characterised by investigators from the national police force or the judiciary. They are characters who have an ironic side and are sometimes decisively comical; not typical heroes, but often complex and even ambiguous characters who solve cases, taking the viewer on a journey into a society of new problems, from financial crime to violent exploitation of immigrants.  These are the years when television series started to be recognised as a worthy art form, like cinema, from the US to Northern Europe to Israel.  Rai's crime stories are a part of this trend, exploring places in a country whose charm lies in its wide variety of cities and landscapes: including Torino with Non uccidere, Trieste with  La porta rossa, the Po delta with Nebbie e delitti and the Baroque and often breathtaking Sicily of Inspector Montalbano.

DEEP IN CRIME 2001 - 2020

• Imma Tataranni - Sostituto procuratore, L’estate del dito, directed by Francesco Amato, 2019
• Nebbie e delitti - Il fiume delle nebbie, directed by Riccardo Donna, 2005
• Il maresciallo Rocca,directed by Giorgio Capitani, Lodovico Gasparini, José María Sánchez, Fabio Jephcott 1996 - 2005
• Rocco Chinnici - È così lieve il tuo bacio sulla fronte, directed by Michele Soavi, 2018
• L'ultimo dei Corleonesi, directed by Alberto Negrin, 2007
• Il cacciatore - Nel bosco, directed by Stefano Lodovichi, 2018
• Non uccidere, directed by Giuseppe Gagliardi, 2015
• Prima che la notte, directed by Daniele Vicari, 2018
• I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone - I bastardi, directed by Carlo Carlei, 2017
• L’ispettore Coliandro - Il giorno del lupo, directed by Manetti Bros., 2006
• Il commissario Manara - Un delitto perfetto, directed by Davide Marengo, 2009
• Provaci ancora Prof! - Il regalo di Babbo Natale, directed by Rossella Izzo, 2005
• Donna Detective - Quale amore, directed by Cinzia TH Torrini, 2007
• Maltese - Il romanzo del commissario, directed by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli, 2017
• Rocco Schiavone – Pista nera, directed by Michele Soavi, 2016
• La porta rossa, directed by Carmine Elia, 2017

ANDREA CAMILLERI AND INSPECTOR MONTALBANO

Not counting a few initial attempts, Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019), the writer from Porto Empedocle, began his literary career in 1992 when he was 67 years old and went on to produce popular works, which have been translated all over the world. He created his own language, a mix of Italian and Sicilian, which was both understandable and exotic. He set his stories in a geography of his own, made up of cities and countries that don't exist but are very believable. Camilleri worked at Rai for a long time as screenwriter, executive producer and director for many TV series, including several crime dramas. During his time as a novelist, he alternated between novels set in the 19th or early 20th century  and crime novels centred on the character of Inspector Salvo Montalbano, a detective who is deeply linked to Sicily, but far from provincial. The television series of Inspector Montalbano, starring Luca Zingaretti, debuted in 1999 and in 2012 a prequel to the series was released, Il giovane Montalbano.