Salvo Montalbano | |
---|---|
Inspector Montalbano character | |
First appearance | The Shape of Water (La forma dell'acqua) |
Last appearance | Riccardino |
Created by | Andrea Camilleri |
Portrayed by | |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Police detective |
Nationality | Italian |
Inspector [a] Salvo Montalbano is a fictional police chief and detective created by Italian writer Andrea Camilleri in a series of novels and short stories. The books were written in a mixture of Italian, strict Sicilian, and Sicilian Italian.
The detective's character encapsulates astute detective work and a fractious manner. Inspector Montalbano is an engaging hero – honest, decent and loyal. He has his own way of doing things, and his superiors regard him as something of a loose cannon. One of the strengths of the novels is Montalbano's ability to navigate through a murky world of shady connections and favours owed and owing, without compromising himself beyond what he can live with. There is a great deal of humour in his character, such as his unconditional love for silence while enjoying a good meal, but the primary subtext is hard criticism of the social and political situation of both the Sicilian and Italian contexts. Camilleri has said that social commentary "was always my aim. In many crime novels, the events seem completely detached from the economic, political and social context in which they occur... In my books, I deliberately decided to smuggle into a detective novel a critical commentary on my times. This also allowed me to show the progression and evolution in the character of Montalbano." [1]
He is the chief of the police station (Italian : Commissario) of the fictional town of Vigata. In this role he balances the demands of his superiors and the realities of local crime and life in general. A determining factor of his success as a Sicilian policeman seems to be his ability to bridge different cultures. On one side, there is the "northern" force from Rome and Milan, which attempts to standardize regulations and increase transparency; on the opposite side is the "southern" culture with complex webs of relationships that affect the way things are done. Montalbano excels at balancing these two while being true to his principles. [2]
Although the Inspector Montalbano series of novels is set in Sicily, Camilleri uncompromisingly confronts many contemporary political and social problems.
The novels have been translated into a number of languages. The English translations, by Stephen Sartarelli, began after five novels had been published in Italian and gained popularity among the Italian-speaking public. Sartarelli has attempted to maintain the mixture of Italian and Sicilian language in the dialogues. In addition, he has added notes at the end of each of the novels, which give short explanations regarding many of the peculiarities of Sicilian and Italian society depicted in the novels.
The name Montalbano is a homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. [3] There are similarities between Montalbán's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective, as both writers make great play of their protagonists' gastronomic preferences, but also notable differences reflecting different inspirational life experiences.
According to the novel A Voice in the Night, chapter 1, Montalbano was born on 6 September 1950.
Inspector Montalbano lives and works in the fictional town of "Vigàta", in the similarly fictional province of "Montelusa". Camilleri based Vigata on his home town of Porto Empedocle, on Sicily's south-west coast, while Montelusa, the province headquarters, is based on Agrigento.
In 2009, a statue of the inspector, commissioned by the then-mayor, was placed in the centrally located Via Roma in Porto Empedocle Giuseppe Agnello. It does not resemble the Montalbano depicted in the TV series, picturing him with his hand on a lamppost, wrinkles and a full head of hair, as described in Camilleri's books. [4]
Since 1999, RAI has produced a television series based on the novels, called in Italian, Il commissario Montalbano . [5] Montalbano is played by Luca Zingaretti. The series is shot almost entirely in the Sicilian city of Ragusa and surrounding towns. [6] The seaside and harbour locations were at Punta Secca and Licata. The series has aired, with English subtitles, on the MHz Worldview television network under the "MHz Networks International Mysteries" banner for several years.
In 2012, Rai 1 broadcast a prequel series, Il giovane Montalbano (The Young Montalbano) , starring Michele Riondino as Montalbano.
Camilleri's writings have enjoyed, and still enjoy, considerable success in Italy and abroad. Montalbano personifies Camilleri's writing style and is therefore at the core of this success, so much so that the evident resemblance between Porto Empedocle and Vigàta prompted the city of Porto Empedocle to rename itself "Porto Empedocle Vigàta" in 2003, although the decision was reversed in 2009.
Andrea Calogero Camilleri was an Italian writer best known for his Salvo Montalbano crime novels.
Porto Empedocle is a town and comune in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It was named after Empedocles, a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the city of Akragas, in his day a Greek colony in Sicily. The primary industries of Porto Empedocle are agriculture, fishing, ironworking, pharmaceuticals and rock salt refining.
The Shape of Water is a 1994 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2002 by Stephen Sartarelli.
The Terracotta Dog is a 1996 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2002 by Stephen Sartarelli.
The Snack Thief is a 1996 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2003 by Stephen Sartarelli.
The Voice of the Violin is a 1997 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2003 by Stephen Sartarelli.
Excursion to Tindari is a 2000 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2005 by Stephen Sartarelli.
Rounding the Mark is a 2003 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2006 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the seventh novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
Luca Zingaretti is an Italian actor and film director, known for playing Salvo Montalbano in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Zingaretti is a native of Rome, and the older brother of politician Nicola Zingaretti.
The Patience of the Spider is a 2004 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2007 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the eighth novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
August Heat is a 2006 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2009 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the tenth novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
The Track of Sand is a 2007 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2010 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the twelfth novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
The Potter's Field is a 2008 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2011 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the thirteenth novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
The Inspector Montalbano television series are Italian police procedural stories. Based on Andrea Camilleri's detective novels, they are located in the imaginary town of Vigàta, Sicily, which is based on Camilleri's native Porto Empedocle. The series protagonist, Salvo Montalbano, is the police chief, or commissario.
The Age of Doubt is a 2008 novel by Andrea Camilleri, translated into English in 2012 by Stephen Sartarelli. It is the fourteenth novel in the internationally popular Inspector Montalbano series.
Peppino Mazzotta is an Italian actor, known for playing police officer Giuseppe Fazio in Il commissario Montalbano mystery series based on the character and novels created by Andrea Camilleri. Mazzotta is a native of Domanico.
The Young Montalbano is an Italian television spin-off produced and broadcast by Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) in 2012 and 2015. It is a prequel to the Inspector Montalbano series that are based on the detective novels of Andrea Camilleri. The setting is the fictional town of Vigàta, Sicily.
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1999.
Sellerio Editore is an Italian publisher founded in 1969 in Palermo, by Elvira Giorgianni and her husband Enzo Sellerio, encouraged by the writer Leonardo Sciascia and the anthropologist Antonino Buttitta.