Le indagini di Lolita Lobosco

Simply a dose of Italian fun, sun, food... and of course love, all served up in the pretty port of Bari. Lolita Lobosco (Luisa Ranieri) is the latest in a line of Italian Police Inspectors' to hit our TV screens and I for once can be accused of binge-watching. Its as moreish as the gorgeous food and luscious cakes regularly consumed by the cast, along with stunning cinematography, pretty ladies and simpleton (male) police officers who seem to have problems of sorts with the women they love, live and work with.

Seems familiar? Try Inspector Montalbano. The same old story, sunshine, seascapes, sex and pasta. Even the characters occupy strikingly similar roles, all brought up to date with texting and a certain 2020s feminist slant, led by the attractive 40 something Lolita and a couple of other ladies including a wonderful car mechanic who possesses an interesting line when taking her suitors on a first date. The boys of course are besotted, chauvinist and slightly silly - all good Italian TV tropes.

It's great fun, funny and largely predictable. Have fun and don't expect anything too philosophical - just enjoy!

Lolita Lobosco is brilliant, kindly, empathetic and unbelievably perceptive about people and every detail she looks into. She had no oppositional "boss' like so many detective shows do and the show depicts a city without the hierarchical social order so many others take for granted, e.g., when the superiors tell a detective to go easy on prominent rich people. Bari is enormously egalitarian, democratic and joyful and its total absence of puritan attitudes is a breath of fresh air.

The acting is amazing as well, and the romantic and domestic relations depicted seem very genuine. Each person who appears, whether a suspect or a grocer, a grieving mother or a decent father is among the most skillful actors I've ever seen Ten stars.

This Italian series is centred on Deputy Chief Lolita Lobosco who has returned to her home city of Bari, on Italy's Adriatic coast, after many years away. Here she will work with a team of male officers; mostly Antonio Forte, a man who she has known since they went to school together, and Esposito, a younger officer who lives with his elderly mother. Each episode deals with a separate case but running through the background is the question of how Lolita's father, a local smuggler, died. It was reported as a traffic accident but perhaps there was more to it than that. Away from the mystery we see the personal lives of our protagonists.

Like other Italian crime series I've seen this is as much about the characters as the mystery; in fact one can sometimes forget about the crime while watching character's personal lives... this isn't really a problem though as the characters are such fun to watch; they may fit genre clichés but they still manage to be believable. The settings is impressive; I imagine the series will encourage tourism to the city as it looks so good. The crimes aren't too disturbing with no 'unpleasantness' shown and there are plenty of laughs to be had... more than from some so-called comedies. The cast does a fine job bringing the characters to life. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of character led murder-mysteries set in an attractive location.

These comments are based on watching the series in Italian with English subtitles.

Lolita Lobosco 6.3 and Imma Tataranni 5.9??? Imma Tataranni is an unconventional and funny series with a really good actress. Lolita Lobosco is a banal series full of stereotypes. Who did rate it? Montalbano/Luca Zingaretti (Luisa Ranieri's husband) :D.

Don't be fooled by the somewhat corny plot gimmicks and romantic entanglements, Italians are speaking out about the oppressive government they have endured for more than a hundred years! In between the lattes and gelato desserts, this show and "The Mafia Only Kills In Summer" let us see that it's nearly impossible to investigate a government official, women police officers are just getting a foothold, and to get a good government job or a good apartment, you have to pull some strings! It's just a fact of everyday life in Italy! The church still holds sway in all parts of Italy though! You can still hear references to God, Christ and the Virgin Mary at almost any time of any day!