"La piovra" (1984) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Damiano Damiani

Writers:

Nicola Badalucco (script)
Lucio Battistrada (written by)

Release Date:

11 March 1984 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Family | Romance

Plot:

Corrado Cattani is a police inspector whose life is devoted to fighting the Italian mafia (known here as "La Piovra" or "The Octopus")...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Mafia | Truth | Murder | Infidelity

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Michele Placido	...	Commissario Corrado Cattani
Barbara De Rossi	...	Comtessa Raffaella Pecci Scialoia / Titti
Nicole Jamet	...	Else Cattani
Angelo Infanti	...	Sante Cirinná
Pino Colizzi	...	Nanni Santamaria
Renato Mori	...	Vice-Commissario Altero
Massimo Bonetti	...	Vice-Commissario Leo De Maria
Eurilla Del Bona	...	Anna Caruso
Cariddi Nardulli	...	Paola Cattani
Geoffrey Copleston	...	Alfredo Ravanusa
Michele Abruzzo	...	Ruggiero / Marquess's butler
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Professor Sebastiano Cannito
Paul Guers	...	Professor Gianfranco Laudeo
Flavio Bucci	...	Don Manfredi
Florinda Bolkan	...	Contessa Olga Camastra

Also Known As:

"Allein gegen die Mafia" (West Germany)
"La mafia" (France) (dubbed version)
"The Octopus"

Runtime:

402 min | Netherlands:360 min

Country:

Italy | France | UK | West Germany

Language:

Italian | English | French

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | Finland:K-18 (DVD) (2007) (self applied) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Escort Cine TV

Quotes:

Comtessa Raffaella Pecci Scialoia: I'm so scared of death... It's always so... unexpected.

Movie Connections:

Followed by La piovra 8 - Lo scandalo (1997) (TV)

One of the best TV series ever.

La Piovra, or SPRUT in Russian, the version that I saw as a boy in early nineties is nothing short of a masterpiece. American audiences are all over the Sopranos, a good series in its own right, but that is because they did not experience La Piovra.

The story of the series at first follows Commissar Cattani and his relentless fight against the Italian mafia and the corrupt bureaucracy. Every episode is full of smart dialogs, rich characters, suspenseful plot,and action. The newer episodes follow the work of a new commissar (I don't want to give away why this happens, watch it and you will see), who just like his predecessor selflessly fights the mob.

The series is mostly shot in Italy and later on in Czech Republic I believe, so scenery does change.

Fortunately for me the local Los Angeles Armenian mom and pop video stores carry the Russian language VHS tapes of the complete series as it was shown in the early nineties, all I need now is a summer holiday to re watch the whole series, it is absolutely worth it.