Romanzo Criminale - Season 1 - DVD

Content: Rome in 1977: the city is dominated by several criminal gangs. Pietro, who everyone calls the Lebanese (Franceso Montanari), is the leader of one such gang. And he has great ambitions. For the Lebanese, together with his men, wants to take control of the whole of Rome. With Freddo (Vincio Marchioni), Dandi (Alessandro Roja), Bufalo (Andrea Sartoretti) and Scrocchiazeppi (Riccardo de Filippis) the Lebanese wants to build up a drug empire that will bring him power and wealth. To do this, of course, he first needs the necessary start-up capital, but even for this problem he already has the right plan ready. Raids, a spectacular kidnapping and some negotiations with other criminal organizations actually bring the Lebanese and his men to the top. The ambitious Commissario Scialoja (Marco Bocci) is always close on their heels. But even when the Commissario succeeds in putting a large part of the gang behind bars for a while, the Lebanese's power remains unbroken. And this, of course, calls on enviers and rivals who want to put an end to the Lebanese's domination of Rome at any cost.

Romanzo Criminale is based on Michele Placido's 2005 feature film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Giancarlo Di Cataldo's best-selling novel. Inspired by the true events surrounding the Banda della Magliana, a criminal organization that operated in Rome especially between the late 1970s and early 1990s, the series paints a gritty picture of Rome's underworld in the late 1970s and early 1980s that is gripping in almost every minute and feels very authentic. However, the series does not live on the good set and the coherent 70s look, but primarily on its excellent character drawing. The makers refrain from overly pronounced black and white painting and instead create very multilayered characters, which are only in the rarest cases only good or abysmal evil. Rather, nearly all of the main characters undergo significant transformations over the course of the series. For example, some of the members of the Lebanese's gang begin to have doubts about his increasingly ruthless and brutal actions. And the Commissario, who actually always follows the law, forgets his inherently high morals especially in the presence of the prostitute Patrizia (Daniela Virgilio), who is repeatedly visited by Dandi.

Through precisely this complexity and development of the characters, a certain emotional connection is created in the viewer, which makes the events extremely involving, exciting and at times quite emotional. However, it takes two or three episodes until you are really taken in by the story, because it takes time to find your way through the jumble of characters and competing organizations. But once the dramaturgical framework is in place, it's hard not to start running the next episode right after one ends.

The season ends with a real bang, immediately underscoring the authentic consistency inherent in the excellent production at almost every moment. Romanzo Criminale is top-class television entertainment, a first-class Mafia epic that may without a doubt be considered the rightful heir to the classic Alone Against the Mafia. Absolutely recommended!

Picture + Sound: The picture can score in the brighter moments with a decent image sharpness and an atmospheric color scheme. Here, the whole thing is on a good to very good TV level. In the darker scenes, on the other hand, there is often noticeable image noise and strong trickling, which then clearly diminishes the positive overall impression. The sound is mixed quite front-heavy, with dialogue and music dominating the action. During shootouts and explosions, however, the surround channels are also occasionally used properly.

Extras: Unfortunately, this first season has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Romanzo Criminale is a great mafia series that quickly draws the viewer into the action and does not let go so quickly even after the end of this first season. The good actors, the exciting scripts and the coherent set lift the series, which is based on the feature film of the same name by Michele Placido, well above the level of standard TV entertainment. A true epic that can be recommended to lovers of series such as Alone against the Mafia or films like Carlos, the Jackal warmly. The 2nd season can not come fast enough!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp