La Piovra (English: The Octopus, referring to the Mafia) is an Italian television drama series about the Mafia. Audio in Italian with English subtitles.
Episode 2: https://www.bitchute.com/video/HBfkpAKRhx58/
The series was directed by various directors who each worked on different seasons, including Damiano Damiani (first season), Florestano Vancini (second season), Luigi Perelli (from the third to the seventh season and again on the tenth season), and Giacomo Battiato (from the eighth to the ninth seasons). The music was written by Riz Ortolani (first season), Ennio Morricone (from the second to the seventh season and again on the tenth season), and by Paolo Buonvino (from the eighth to the ninth season).
The show was successfully exported to over eighty countries during and after its sixteen-year run. La Piovra is still considered to be the most famous Italian television series in the world, and all seasons received widespread public approval, with an average of 10 million and a peak of 15 million viewers. The show presents an extremely realistic portrayal of the violence and heartlessness of members of organized crime, and this remains the most distinctive feature of the production to this day.
Particularly important to the show is the narrative evolution with which the multiple tentacles of organized crime spread through local and international networks, and this is also the basis of the show's title. The first season moves from localized drug trafficking rings in Sicily to the palaces of power in Rome in the second. The intricate stories of politics, finance, Freemasonry, corruption, and organized crime which are told in seasons 5 to 7 (1990-1995) were inspired by the political and news stories of those years, and attempted to present the notion that the Mafia was not based on concepts of honour and valour but was rather a harmful societal phenomenon replete with fraud, cold-blooded killers, and a cause of social decay. This fact generated several political controversies as well as strong pressure to put an end to the series. Despite this, the show continued to have great success with the public and with critics, even at the international level. After the launch of the first season, the filmmakers and Placido himself received threatening letters from the Mafia to stop filming immediately. For security reasons, the second season was filmed mainly in secret locations outside Italy, including in Germany, Switzerland, Britain, and Greece. The series, whose first episode was screened on 11 March 1984, triggered intensive journalistic examination of the phenomenon of the Mafia. Several outlets published cover stories on the topic. The discussion engendered by the show included widows of murdered police officers and bankers from Palermo. Comparable programs were also shown in connection with later seasons, and these continued to be accompanied by great national interest. Political reactions and criticism were rife as well, and though several politicians praised the show for the way it exposed the Mafia's connections to Italian politics and the corridors of power, critical voices were vocal in their opposition to the storyline.
The first season of 6 episodes of 60 minutes each, released in 1984, was directed by Damiano Damiani and scored by Riz Ortolani. The episodes were filmed at locations in Rome and the Sicilian city of Trapani, and the scenes in the mountains and on the lake were shot in Horgen and Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
The main theme of the plot revolves around local arms and drug trafficking, which is investigated by Commissioner Corrado Cattani, played by Michele Placido. Cattani has been transferred from Rome and appointed deputy police chief in a small town in Sicily, after his predecessor, Commissioner Marineo, is killed by the mafia.
Cast & Characters (Partial):
Michele Placido as Corrado Cattani
Patricia Millardet as Silvia Conti
Remo Girone as Gaetano "Tano" Cariddi (inspired by the real-life convicted mafioso Michele Sindona)
Raoul Bova as Gianni Breda (season 7) and Carlo Arcuti (seasons 8 and 9)
Vittorio Mezzogiorno as Davide Licata
Martin Balsam as Frank Carrisi
Florinda Bolkan as Countess Olga Camastra
Daniela "Mietta" Miglietta as Rosaria Albanese
Luca Zingaretti as Pietro Favignana
Claude Rich as Filippo Rasi
Jean-Luc Bideau as Davide Faeti
François Marthouret as Senator Ernesto Conti
Barbara De Rossi as Marchesa Raffaella "Titti" Pecci Scialoia
François Périer as Attorney Terrasini
