The awkward hand of the law “Inspector Coliandro: The Awkward Hand of the Law” is the slogan of the cult series for Italians about a young policeman from the city of galleries – Bologna. Coliandro dreams of being like the heroes of police fighters – Harry Callahan from Dirty Harry or Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon. But movie templates in real life only add to the problems. The result was a funny spaghetti detective.
The same thing made the series cult and allowed it to last on TV screens for a decade and a half? First, the black humor that permeates each episode. Coliandro now and then makes incorrect jokes, but he himself becomes the object of ridicule of colleagues. Secondly, a good literary basis: the series is based on the criminal novels of Carlo Lucarelli. Thirdly, there is an additional bonus for moviegoers in each of the series: the hero then quotes Harry Callahan, then watches “Escape from New York”, then we suddenly notice a poster of an old film in the style of “blackploitation”. But the main thing is very well told interesting stories with a funny hero!
While maintaining the overall style, each series has its own taste. For example, in the first season, directors Marco Manetti and Antonio Manetti (Manetti Bros.) test their hero for strength in the dynamics of kung fu films, the gloomy surroundings of a la Dario Argente and even comedic situations generated by the conflict of fathers and children. And the main character performed by Giampaolo Morelli is organic everywhere and never retreats, despite his own numerous mistakes. He doesn’t learn from them, he lives with them.
In the investigations, the reckless but completely unobservable Coliandro is assisted without much zeal by fellow inspectors Trombetti and Gamberini, as well as Agent Gargiulo. But his boss, Commissioner De Zan, and prosecutor Longhi, are constantly putting sticks in the wheel. And always next to Coliandro is a beautiful girl! She can be a witness, a victim, a relative of the victim, anyone, but the main thing is her charm and intuition. Charm stimulates the inspector to exploits, intuition helps to stop wandering in the three pines and break out into the wide expanse of the final denouement.
The lead actor Giampaolo Morelli believes that the series returns viewers to the golden era of ironic Italian comedy, to the characters created on the screen by Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi and Hugo Toniazzi. Coliandro is an ordinary person, with his own prejudices, weaknesses and strengths. He's just like the viewer! “You’re better than you want to be,” says Coliandro, another girlfriend. “I didn’t understand whether it was a compliment or vice versa,” the inspector sincerely wondered.
The first season of the series was released in 2006. Due to complaints about the politically incorrect behavior of Coliandro, the project was suspended every now and then, butchu was raised by fans and the inspector returned in all his brilliance. The last to date seventh season was released in 2018. Coliandro would say, "I'll be back!" Is that a quote too?
8 out of 10