The stylish new two-part Italian TV series looks set to do for the early seventies what Mad Men has done for the sixties. It seems likely that it will be re-edited into a movie-length version for festival and overseas distribution.


Andrea Osvart and Giampaolo Morelli

Starring Andrea Osvart, Sara Tommassi and Giampaolo Morelli, it is a remake of a classic 1975 movie that starred the international cast of Italian legend Marcello Mastroianni, British actress Jacqueline Bisset and Frenchman Jean-Louis Trintignant.


Jacqueline Bisset in the groundbreaking 1975 version

The story sees police commissioner Santamaria investigating the murder of the architecht Garrone whose family live amongst the superclass of Turin. During the hot summer of 1973, he continues his investigation. He strikes up a romantic interest with Garrone's widow and also begins to unravel a world of corruption and deceit where nothing and no one is quite what they seem. In 1975, the underlying hints of homossexuality were considered shocking but in the modern version, it is the corruption and deceit at the top that strikes most chords with the Italian viewer. Then there is a second murder...........


Sara Tommassi who plays the prostitute

This is quality television at its best.