"Carla Cametti PD" (2009) TV series

Creators:

Jo Martino
Samantha Winston

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Crime

Cast

Diana Glenn	...	Carla Cametti (6 episodes, 2009)
Vince Colosimo	...	Luciano Gandolfi (6 episodes, 2009)
Sullivan Stapleton	...	Matt Brodie (6 episodes, 2009)
Dina Panozzo	...	Angela Cametti (6 episodes, 2009)
Julie Eckersley	...	Georgina Kavel (6 episodes, 2009)
Nicole da Silva	...	Lisa Testro (6 episodes, 2009)
Robert Mammone	...	Tony Cametti (6 episodes, 2009)
Christine Kaman	...	Nonna Maria (6 episodes, 2009)
Alfredo Malabello	...	Leo Cametti (6 episodes, 2009)
Jude Beaumont	...	Amanda Cartlin (6 episodes, 2009)
Tony Poli	...	Joe Testro (6 episodes, 2009)
Nicholas Coghlan	...	Paul Packhard (6 episodes, 2009)
Daniella Farinacci	...	Teresa Cametti (4 episodes, 2009)
Lauren Clair	...	Susan Clarke (4 episodes, 2009)
Matt Boesenberg	...	Sean Hamley (3 episodes, 2009)
Angus Grant	...	Brad Greene (3 episodes, 2009)
Raffaele Costabile	...	Bruno Cametti (3 episodes, 2009)
Justina Noble	...	Kate Andrews (3 episodes, 2009)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

SBS Television

Trivia:

The title of each episode, when put together, form traditional wedding vows.

Stylistic with substance

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Carla Cametti (Glenn) is a private detective in her late 20s who has just returned to Melbourne from Italy, to where she escaped some time ago from her boyfriend Matt (Stapleton). Soon after her return, the husband of her close friend Georgina (Eckersley) is found, murdered, on a local soccer field. Despite initially declining Georgina's request for her to discover the identity of his killer, Carla finds herself inexorably drawn into the case through a series of developments involving Matt, her close-knit extended family, her professional PD work and her closest friend Lisa (da Silva). The series is a stylistic aesthetic treat which ultimately contains substance behind the glossy exterior of beautiful young things darting between inner-city chic and nuovo-riche family mansions. Glenn is perfect in her role as the assertive, sassy yet non-committal Cametti, the daughter of one of Melbourne's successful Italian immigrant families. The series paces itself between the main plot – a traditional TV-crime mystery surrounding an opening scenes murder – and Cametti's relationships with her close friends and family. Sometimes the modal switching seems too unreal, as Cametti juggles threats to her own life with a discipline of 'keeping up appearances', though there are perhaps enough glimpses into her private struggle for viewers to forgive this aspect and indulge in the televisual fantasy. The fantasy might attract criticism, however, for itself indulging in a sinister cultural stereotype – the assumption that Italian-Australian wealth derives ultimately from crooked means finds unambiguous expression here. Within the stereotype, Mammone and Poli play the Mafioso gangsters with aplomb, and Colosimo is well-cast as the ego-driven detective. This was the least successful of the SBS miniseries of 2008-09, though along with THE CIRCUIT, EAST WEST 101 and RAN, and the ABC's EAST OF EVERYTHING, BED OF ROSES and RAIN SHADOW, this represents a brilliant renaissance in Australia television drama – the 6-part format should be around for a while.