Inspector Montalbano BBC4 Saturday 9PM

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ilovewallander

13-03-2012

Originally Posted by I♥NordicTV:
“There are loooots of dialects of Italian and the differences between the North and South Italian are quite different. Some say Sicialian is a 'language' in itself as it differs so much to 'standard Italian'. When written down Sicilian and, for example, Milanese Italian dialects show that they are Italian dialects, not separate languages.

Essay over

According to a Wikipedia article Catarella's linguistic errors (his misunderstanding of others and their effort to understand him) is said to be down to "his abilities" and this is why the police were so surprised when he got the best grade in computing.

I don't think Catarella is speaking a Sicilan dialect - he, like most/all of the characters seem to speak 'standard Italian' with Sicialian pronunciations or grammar structures thrown in. From what I've read Sicialian has a higher Greek and Arabic influence and pronunciation is a little different. I'd be interested if an Italian-speaker could clarify this

The books were written in Italian with lots of Sicilian expressions!
-------------

I've also found out that 'Livia' is German and her voice is dubbed in the series. She seems to be speaking Italian, but perhaps she's dubbed to hide a German accent. Guesswork!”

Hello ILNTV

Katharina Bohm who plays Livia is half Austrian, half Polish, she was born in Switzerland and her father was born in Germany

david1955

13-03-2012

Originally Posted by I♥NordicTV:
“There are loooots of dialects of Italian and the differences between the North and South Italian are quite different. Some say Sicialian is a 'language' in itself as it differs so much to 'standard Italian'. When written down Sicilian and, for example, Milanese Italian dialects show that they are Italian dialects, not separate languages.

Essay over

According to a Wikipedia article Catarella's linguistic errors (his misunderstanding of others and their effort to understand him) is said to be down to "his abilities" and this is why the police were so surprised when he got the best grade in computing.

I don't think Catarella is speaking a Sicilan dialect - he, like most/all of the characters seem to speak 'standard Italian' with Sicialian pronunciations or grammar structures thrown in. From what I've read Sicialian has a higher Greek and Arabic influence and pronunciation is a little different. I'd be interested if an Italian-speaker could clarify this

The books were written in Italian with lots of Sicilian expressions!
-------------

I've also found out that 'Livia' is German and her voice is dubbed in the series. She seems to be speaking Italian, but perhaps she's dubbed to hide a German accent. Guesswork!”

This would make far more sense than her speaking English as I thought. I'm sure you are correct.

I♥NordicTV

13-03-2012

Originally Posted by ilovewallander:
“Hello ILNTV Katharina Bohm who plays Livia is half Austrian, half Polish, she was born in Switzerland and her father was born in Germany”

Hello ILW!!
Perhaps she was dubbed to hider her Polish, German, Austro-German, Swiss German/French/Italian accent

Originally Posted by david1955:
“This would make far more sense than her speaking English as I thought. I'm sure you are correct.”

I've noticed a few characters' speech doesn't match the voiceover. As they're all Italian it makes me wonder whether it's an editing issue or whether they've all got 'non-Sicilian/Italian' accents that 'must' be hidden. Apparently Montalbano is from Rome and was taught Sicilian pronunciation.

I'm halfway through the threads on this forum in case I'm repeating things that have previously been said!

JeffG1

13-03-2012

Originally Posted by david1955:
“This would make far more sense than her speaking English as I thought. I'm sure you are correct.”

Are you the deaf person who can lip-read? (I don't remember without re-reading the entire thread.) That person said it was English.

I♥NordicTV

13-03-2012

Originally Posted by RecordPlayer:
“I like listening to Italians speaking...very musical and makes a change from hearing Danish, but, I can't remember ever seeing a good Italian thriller. Unintentionally, I tend to study their furniture and observe what they eat”

I'm reknowned for this observation in the excellent Nordic shows too....it's part of the cultural experience for me

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet:
“I saw someone say somewhere online that Luca Zingaretti is a Roman but to play Montalbano he had to get into the Sicilian mindset and master the mannerisms etc. I never realised that Sicilians had a different way of behaving to other Italians or at least those from Rome - maybe it's more of a 'southern' thing.”

Originally Posted by RecordPlayer:
“That's very interesting, I didn't know that. I've noticed though, that Italians tend to speak with their hands.
Sicilian hand movements maybe different from Roman, perhaps?”

From what I've read the stereotypical hand movements, people associate with all Italians, are predominantly a feature of the Southern Italians.

Originally Posted by Franglais:
“I too watched "The Snack Thief" and thoroughly enjoyed it although, towards the end, I thought it was beginning to sound rather Agatha Chrisie-ish i.e. who did what to whom and why. As somebody else here mentioned earlier I too noticed the sub-titling gaps whilst they were jabbaering away at 300 mph, sorry, I'll re-phrase that - 230 kph.

One thing did puzzle me though: Montalbano spoke in Italian (of course!) whilst Livia spoke in English throughout. I am profoundly Deaf so rely 100% on sub-titles in ALL programmes - those without, unless they're very visual, I don't watch.
Now, what I'd like to know is, was Livia's dialogue dubbed into Italian? As I am rather good at lipreading, I watched her lips and noticed her English dialogue. Can anybody here clarify this for me?
Thanks”

The subtitling isn't very accurate and the speech is faaast. IMO southern Italian is faster than central and northern Italian. Also there are many different forms of words which are unrecognisable, to me, as they've lost a vowel or consonant or two.

[JeffG]
Livia is definitely speaking Italian throughout. Many words in Italian are similar [simile ] to English [Inglese] so it's easy to confuse [confusato] Livia's words with English

Jeff, I was lipreading the characters' words as I realised that the movements of their mouth didn't fit the speed of the speech!
Last edited by I♥NordicTV : 13-03-2012 at 18:50

ItJustMyOpinion

13-03-2012

Just got the British release DVD box set for series one, which is what they have just shown on BBC4.

I also have box set imports 4 and 5 which are the original region 0 / 4 Australian translated box set's.

It will be interesting to see how the first episode compare to the much more recent ones. I burned some DVD's for the original two shown on BBC4, but hopefully if BBC4 buy the next four episodes, a British box set 2 may be released.

Still loads I haven't seen as I think there are about 22 episodes altogether.

david1955

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by JeffG1:
“Are you the deaf person who can lip-read? (I don't remember without re-reading the entire thread.) That person said it was English.”

No , that's not me , but if you look at Wiki it clearly states that Livia's voice is dubbed.

Livia Burlando (Season 1-Season 4) - Katharina Böhm, voiced by Claudia Catani. The girlfriend of Montalbano

JeffG1

14-03-2012

Originally Posted by david1955:
“No , that's not me , but if you look at Wiki it clearly states that Livia's voice is dubbed”

Nobody is disputing the fact that her voice is dubbed - just the original language she is speaking in.

Verence

15-03-2012

Originally Posted by I♥NordicTV:
“
From what I've read Sicialian has a higher Greek and Arabic influence and pronunciation is a little different. I'd be interested if an Italian-speaker could clarify this ”

That's not suprising as the island was part of the Byzantine Empire for 300 or so years and was an indendent Islamic emirate for a further 150 or so years

Verence

17-03-2012

Here we go... speak to you later

Doghouse Riley

17-03-2012

I'm of the opinion that Livia, for all the contribution she makes to the stories, is Montalbano's equivalent of Barney Bee's Joyce, she's just there to make him look less one-dimensional.

the_lostprophet

17-03-2012

I keep looking at the different things Montalbano eats each time. What was in that bowl at his house when he was watching the news - looked like salad - cherry tomatoes etc?

Also that cop station doesn't look like a cop station what with its spacious offices, high ceilings and tiled floors.

The eps vary in lengths - this one was about the right length I think. When they go to nearly 2 hours the plots seem too padded out.

david1955

18-03-2012

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley:
“I'm of the opinion that Livia, for all the contribution she makes to the stories, is Montalbano's equivalent of Barney Bee's Joyce, she's just there to make him look less one-dimensional.”

But unlike Barnaby, Salvo always has the chance with another girl , this week the physics teacher , but always turns them down to go back to Flavia. It's quite a nice touch.

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet:
“I keep looking at the different things Montalbano eats each time. What was in that bowl at his house when he was watching the news - looked like salad - cherry tomatoes etc?

Also that cop station doesn't look like a cop station what with its spacious offices, high ceilings and tiled floors.

The eps vary in lengths - this one was about the right length I think. When they go to nearly 2 hours the plots seem too padded out.”

Certainly a huge pile of salad for one person! Really enjoying this more and more , this latest one was very good..
Re the lady Emma (?), she has this magnificently furnished house , but it looked like a barn from the outside , don't people in Sicily decorate the outside of their homes.

bob up and down

18-03-2012

I would imagine Sicilian (sp?) houses are very old - there doesn't appear to be many 'new build' there.

Looks flippin hilly too. I'd never make it around there on foot. ;(

Do like the programme though. Although sea urchin and spaghetti was rather off putting.

david1955

19-03-2012

No-one been watching this ?. Great line from Caterella when he is showing them how to use a computer " You press this key called enter- that is a technical term"

I've noticed that many of the characters wear coats, and Salvo is always in a jacket , except when he has a swim, so I presume it was filmed in the winter, but still , I thought you would be able to survive out there in more summery clothes.

the_lostprophet

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by david1955:
“No-one been watching this ?. Great line from Caterella when he is showing them how to use a computer " You press this key called enter- that is a technical term"”

The thread has gone a bit quiet - I've been watching each week though.

I was going to mention that line about 'enter' the other day - classic Catarella!

KennyT

19-03-2012

What brought back memories for me was the sound of the modem! Aah, those were the days!

K

KennyT

19-03-2012

Official ratings for e5: 680k.

The table so far:
e1 561k overnight, 640k official.
e2: (630k overnight estimate), 721k official
e3: (650k overnight estimate), 744k official
e4: (580k overnight estimate), 664k official
e5: (596k overnight estimate), 680k official

I must admit to being gobsmacked by that rating! For the third showing of a subbed drama that's extraordinary. I'm not sure which of the two previously-shown episodes these ratings refer to but, IIRC, the first showings got approx 200k, the repeats got ~500k and now this one gets 680k thrid time around!

K

ilovewallander

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by KennyT:
“Official ratings for e5: 680k.

The table so far:
e1 561k overnight, 640k official.
e2: (630k overnight estimate), 721k official
e3: (650k overnight estimate), 744k official
e4: (580k overnight estimate), 664k official
e5: (596k overnight estimate), 680k official

I must admit to being gobsmacked by that rating! For the third showing of a subbed drama that's extraordinary. I'm not sure which of the two previously-shown episodes these ratings refer to but, IIRC, the first showings got approx 200k, the repeats got ~500k and now this one gets 680k thrid time around!

K”

It's doing really well, isn't it KT?!

I'm glad it's doing well, I really enjoy watching it. It's got a quirky charm of its own

Some people who've been less than complimentary about it (saying the viewing figures would be dire etc etc) should be made to eat humble pie!

Denley

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by ilovewallander:
“It's doing really well, isn't it KT?! I'm glad it's doing well, I really enjoy watching it. It's got a quirky charm of its own Some people who've been less than complimentary about it (saying the viewing figures would be dire etc etc) should be made to eat humble pie!”

bet you enjoyed posting that ILW?

Great viewing figures, just a pity I'm so far behind on these now I don't know when I'll catch up.

I'm glad MentalBaldo found its niche

the_lostprophet

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by KennyT:
“I must admit to being gobsmacked by that rating! For the third showing of a subbed drama that's extraordinary. I'm not sure which of the two previously-shown episodes these ratings refer to but, IIRC, the first showings got approx 200k, the repeats got ~500k and now this one gets 680k thrid time around!

K”

Pleased about these figures. I did have a hunch that this series would do well - people are obviously enjoying the lighter European fare as well.

Verence

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet:
“Pleased about these figures. I did have a hunch that this series would do well - people are obviously enjoying the lighter European fare as well.”

I think that because we are so used to the more melancholy northern European fare it took us a bit of time to be able to appreciate Mentalbaldo on it's own merits

BTW does anyone know what will be filling the Euro-crime slot after IM is finished??

the_lostprophet

19-03-2012

I got to like IM from the 2nd ep I saw - had been a bit non-plussed at the first ep though.

No idea what is next....not sure if it's The Bridge or if it just hasn't been announced.

Denley

19-03-2012

Originally Posted by the_lostprophet:
“I got to like IM from the 2nd ep I saw - had been a bit non-plussed at the first ep though.

No idea what is next....not sure if it's The Bridge or if it just hasn't been announced.”

Either Sebastian Bergman or The Bridge next....nothing out there yet.

Straker

19-03-2012

More people are watching Mentalbaldo than did The Killing or Borgen. If that floats your boat, good for you. Personally I find it quite depressing that sun, sand, tits and teeth are what even BBC4 viewers crave above all else.

The slow traffic in this thread and the total absence of any buzz in the meeja is some vindication of my opinions on this throwback eurotrash though so I’ll take some solace in that thankyouverymuch.....

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