The Young Montalbano (TV Series) Ferito a morte (2012) User Reviews

Mortally Wounded

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 28 September 2013]

As this episode opens Inspector Montalbano comes across a group of men laughing at a poster; it promises a referendum to decide if the wife of a local politician is a W____. It isn't specified what W stands for but it is obvious to all who read it, as well as to the politician! Montalbano doesn't get far into investigating who put the posters up when he learns that there has been a murder; a woman has reported finding her uncle, a local loan shark, shot dead. She says she has no idea who the killer was but she fired a shot at him as he fled and it would appear that she wounded him. In the previous episode Fazio suffered a heart attack but he is now back at work; against the advice of his doctor.

This was another enjoyable episode; the murder mystery was interesting without being convoluted and the case of the politician's wife was amusing rather than distracting. In fact there were quite a lot of amusing moments in this episode; most involving the hapless Catarella… even his actions in the final scene were laugh out loud funny. There was some sadness too as we see the elder Fazio departing; this also provided some drama as the viewer is forced to wonder whether he will succumb to the cliché of having somebody die just before they leave the police! Away from the police work Montalbano's relationship with Livia is developing nicely and we learn more about his relationship with his father. Overall this was a fine episode with just the right mix of drama and humour; fans of the series should certainly like it.

Vivid Portrayal of Life in an Ostensibly Sleepy Sicilian Town

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 28 August 2015]

Inevitably in a film like YOUNG MONTALBANO, the viewer is inevitably encouraged to make comparisons between this prequel and the worldwide hit starring Luca Zingaretti. Perhaps this is an invidious thing to do; Michele Riondino looks nothing like Zingaretti, even though their mannerisms are superficially similar (a tendency to fiddle with objects in his office, his peremptory treatment of Catarella, etc.)

Structurally speaking, this episode is as convincingly plotted as any in the MONTALBANO series. Another complicated plot involving a naked loan shark, an apparently emotionally disturbed girl, and a dead delivery-boy takes the young Montalbano on a disturbing odyssey through Vigata's underworld where nothing is quite what it seems. Aided and abetted by the young Augello, whose womanizing character is well established (this time with a nubile dentist's wife), he manages to uncover the plot with a combination of native cunning and intuition.

Many of his traits are well defined. The young Catarella (Fabrizio Pizzuto) is just as flustered as his older incarnation, and Montalbano treats him as such. Yet the Inspector is not averse to sampling Catarella's pasta if it is sufficiently tasty. Montalbano also continues an on-off relationship with Livia (Sarah Felberbaum) - although she is obviously attracted to him and he to her, work keeps getting in the way of their affair. We can well understand what happens to the older Montalbano in the other series.

The pacing is leisurely, like many British detective series; but what distinguishes Gianluca Tavarelli's production is the way it keeps pausing to focus on Montalbano's love of food, which sustains him both physically and emotionally. The Sicilian locations also help to establish a leisurely mood that contrasts with the corruption associated with the murder.

Mortal Wounds

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 23 October 2017]

Love 'Inspector Montalbano' and feel that it does a great job bringing freshness to a well-worn genre (not intended as a bad thing, love crime/mystery drama but there's a lot out there with familiar tropes to each other).

Was not sure how its prequel series 'The Young Montalbano' would fare when hearing of it. It sounded interesting to see the great 'Inspector Montalbano' characters in their youth, but also questioned the necessity. With that being said, had mixed expectations before watching 'Endeavour', the prequel series to one of my favourites 'Inspector Morse' and it ended up nearly as great. The same goes for 'The Young Montalbano', it must have been no easy feat to live up to such a good show and have a younger actor for the title character filling in very big shoes but 'The Young Montalbano' manages it splendidly.

Some may question the physical resemblances of the younger cast to 'Inspector Montalbano's' cast for continuity's sake, Mimi is a notable example. That was not an issue at all to me. "Mortally Wounded" continues the remarkably consistently brilliant standard set by the previous three episodes, not many shows have started off this consistently in a good way (even 'Inspector Montalbano' had episodes in its first season that while always never less than very good where some episodes were better than others) and 'The Young Montalbano' is one of the finer and in a way under-appreciated examples.

"Mortally Wounded", as hoped and expected, is beautifully shot and the scenery is stunning, making those who've never been to Italy want to book a holiday there as soon as possible and is a treat for anybody who loves all things Italian. The scenery as always is atmospheric and the use of it very clever, the locale as always is suitably colourful. The music is never over-bearing or low-key with a nice atmosphere and flavour, a lot of it is very cleverly used. The sound effects are remarkably authentic.

Oh, and something that was neglected to be mentioned by me in my reviews for the show and its individual episodes is how the food and the way it's used is enough to make one salivate over, it looks so delicious and almost too good to eat.

Part of 'The Young Montalbano's' appeal, and one of the prime examples being in "Mortally Wounded" again, is how it manages to stay true to what was so good about 'Inspector Montalbano' and is every bit as successful at creating a history that is both incredibly interesting and plausible. The humour is fun, the conflict is tense in a nail-biting way and the drama charms and affects. Montalbano's personal life is even more complicated here. The characters as their younger selves, for what they lack in physical resemblance, more than make up for that in maintaining the same personalities we know and love the characters for and being just as interesting in development. Catarella when younger is just as hilarious, if more subtle. Even the supporting characters are given a lot of attention.

Very like the best episodes of 'The Young Montalbano', the story is well-paced, absorbing, intelligently written and brain-teasing, while keeping logic intact, not being too easy to solve (actually like 'Inspector Montalbano' it's pretty complicated) and not confusing or alienating the viewer. Pacing is leisurely but never dull.

The acting is very good, Michele Riondino had a Herculean task filling the shoes of the incomparable Luca Zingaretti but is more than up to the task and does it more than admirably, balancing comedy, drama and intensity with ease. All the other roles range from solid to great, but through the whole show it's Riondino's show all the way when it comes to the acting honours.

Overall, brilliant once again. 10/10 Bethany Cox