I bastardi di Pizzofalcone

The series presents itself as an atrociously shot early 00s soap opera with romantic crime series dreams. It fails miserably at being anything else than a perfect example on how to waste production budget. The dialogues are bland, most shots are cringeworthy extreme close ups, photography sports what looks like a 12 y.o.'s first attempt at creative color correction, and one of the songs in the O. S. T. Is a blatant plagiarism of Hanz Zimmer's Time. Everything else is subject to personal tastes and interpretations, and even in this I've never happened to like fiabesque representations of the city of Naples, which is a city whose soul, in order to be properly narrated, is something that requires a narrative craft that this series could only dream of.

Love for the rich and vibrant traditions of the ancient city of Naples fills every scene of this series, but the vibe is fresh and contemporary. The cinematography is first-rate, and the acting is superb. Each lead character is well fleshed out, and the character roles in each case are brilliantly cast and acted, be they innocent children or mob bosses, concierges or architects, young lovers or old widows and widowers. The older characters are especially fine, including detective Giorgio Pisanelli, played by Gianfelice Imparato, who, despite his colleagues' skepticism, is doggedly on the trail of a serial killer. It may not be the most original whodunit, but there is plenty of eye candy, and the music is good. It just sings. Of course it does, it's Napoli!

Seems like every other detective series out there starts out with a troubled detective w/personal issues. The cheaper series then follow the formula of a mostly panning camera of talking heads (lots of talking). In this series we get the usual cheap found dead body in the beginning followed by lots of incidental "just everyday talking"; dining, wine, light romance w/no seen sex. Usual detective team conflicts & off beat personalities to relieve boredom. This series adds, probably an Italian cultural thing, extra model attractive females; extra dining & wine; a few long camera shots of a bay; lots of scenes of bland building facades. But, scenes of the usual Catholic inspired emphasis on excessively ornate & furnished interiors.

Plots differ for each agonizingly long episode (90+ min) until the brief confession (usually least expected) at the very end. Really poor forensics, and highly improbable sleuthing. Series film quality seemed '70s like w/audio that was poor (almost dubbed like), and video just as bad.

Suggest watching their E.U. neighbor's series "Spiral" or most Swedish/Danish.

This is a poor attempt to copy "Montalbano", right down to the quirky cop at the entrance to the police station. The characters are not as rich as many other detective series. Attempts are made to make them seem interesting by giving them problems and issues with which they deal outside of work. As with many French and Italian series, there is the inevitable lesbian relationship (one seldom sees gay male relationships, maybe because they with to preserve the image of Machismo or the French lover, who knows). The episodes drag, and become very formula driven as the series progresses. The sets are either very grubby, crumbling old buildings, or crumbling old buildings filled with ornate carvings, frescoes and furniture.....very Italian!

It's watchable but just expect mediocrity, nothing else!

This is a great show, beautiful camera work, full of scenes of Naples. The recurring characters are interesting people with interesting lives that do not detract from the stories. Each plot is unique and not a rehash of Agatha Christy or any other of the mystery shows I have watched. The twists do not come out of nowhere.so rewatching it is a pleasure I really am enjoying this show. Make more!