La Piovra (; , referring to the Mafia) is an Italian television drama series about the Mafia. 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. All ten seasons were released in Australia on DVD with English subtitles by Aztec International Entertainment, having originally aired on the Special Broadcasting Service television channel. It was also broadcast on MHz Networks in the United States. The first three seasons were shown in the UK on Channel 4. The TV drama was successful in the Eastern Bloc, where it appeared on state TV in 1986 and in Albania, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria, where it appeared in the end of the 1980s (in its seventh season, the show featured Bulgarian actor Stefan Danailov). In Portugal, it was re-broadcast by RTP Memória.
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.
Synopsis 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 third season tells the story of the Mafia's financial dealings through international banks and the illegal trafficking of weapons and nuclear waste. The plot intensifies in the fourth season, at the end of which the main protagonist, Commissioner Corrado Cattani (played by Michele Placido), is killed due to the increasing knowledge he acquires about the Mafia's vast dealings and criminal operations.
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.
It was partly due to these political pressures that the 8th and 9th seasons deviated from telling a story set in contemporary times and shifted to the earlier era of the landowner-and-peasant mafia of the 1950s and 1960s, mainly focusing on the private affairs of the protagonists rather than on the business of Cosa Nostra, and the plot was almost entirely detached from the other chapters of the saga.
Finally, with "La piovra 10", the show strived to tie up any loose ends which were previously left pending and to present an updated perspective of the Mafia of the early 2000s.
Season one 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. The commissioner moves with his wife Else (Nicole Jamet), with whom he often has arguments, and his teenage daughter Paola (Cariddi Nardulli). Cattani's investigation interferes with local mafia groups, who try to influence him. A whole range of measures are used to make the commissioner compliant, to no avail. Eventually, Cattani's subordinate, Vice-Commissioner Leo De Maria (Massimo Bonetti), is shot and killed by a mafia henchman in a café. This proves to be one of the most brutal scenes in the whole series. Following this, Corrado continues his investigation, and an unsuccessful attempt is made to assassinate him. Finally, the mafia decides to kidnap his daughter Paola, and this proves to be Cattani's breaking point. Panicked about his daughter's safety, he follows all of the mafia's demands and revokes his previous statements. Paola is later raped by one of the mobsters before being released, and suffers severe trauma. Corrado begins an affair with the young heroin-addicted Raffaella "Titti" Pecci Scialoia (Barbara De Rossi), whose mother was shot together with former police commissioner Marineo. He attempts to help her go clean and get away from her drug dealer Sante Cirinnà (Angelo Infanti), but she also ends up getting killed. Cattani resigns from the police and leaves Sicily, joining his wife Else in a small lakeside town in Switzerland, where Paola is being treated at a psychiatric facility. The season additionally features the powerful architect Olga Camastra (Florinda Bolkan) and the commissioner's primary antagonist, attorney Terrasini (François Périer).
The success of the first season was exceptional, with ratings rising with each successive episode - the first being watched by 8 million Italians and the sixth by 15 million.
Season two The second season, again having 6 episodes of 60 minutes each, was released in 1986. The fact that there was a second season at all was controversial, and previous director Damiano Damiani thought it was a mistake to shoot sequels so he withdrew from the project. Screenwriter Ennio De Concini had to be persuaded by producer Sergio Silva to return, and finally Florestano Vancini was hired to direct. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone joined the project and composed the soundtrack. Shooting again took place at several locations in Italy and Switzerland.
In this season, the focus increasingly shifts to the international business dealings of the Sicilian Mafia. The emphasis is on American connections and contacts with the Italian government. The story showcases the intrigues and violent pressure of a secret society called Itala in Sicily. The first two episodes pick up the thread of the first season. The creators of the series decided to remove all characters from the previous season who were no longer necessary to the plotline, and these were killed off or otherwise removed from the story. Corrado Cattani, who had previously left the police force, is persuaded to return and resume work. For this purpose, Colonel Ettore Ferretti (Sergio Fantoni), a connection to Corrado's long-time friend and mentor Sebastiano Cannito (Jacques Dacqmine), makes an appearance. The corrupt Cannito has gained a high position in the Secret Service with the help of the Masonic lodge and is deeply involved in the business of the Mafia, which Ferretti wants to uncover. At the beginning of the story, Corrado's daughter Paola, who was brutalized in the previous season, commits suicide. Cattani decides to search for those responsible for Paola's kidnapping in Sicily. There, however, he runs into a trap and is placed in custody by his nemesis, Attorney Terrasini (François Périer). Cattani is forced to agree to a pact with his foe, and he goes undercover as an assistant to the powerful Cannito; in this role he has to work closely with the people responsible for the death of several of his colleagues. He begins a love affair with Olga Camastra (Florinda Bolkan), who is a member of the Lodge, thereby obtaining information from her about everything that happens within the organization. The Countess, due to her feelings for Cattani, begins to play a double game, even bringing the commissioner into her inner circle so he can obtain the information he needs. As Corrado gets involved in factional battles between the Lodge and the Mafia, he places himself in even greater danger. When his partner Ferreti is killed, Cattani is completely on his own. Only his wife Else, who lives by herself at a lakeside in the Swiss Alps, remains as his conversation partner. By the end of the season, Cattani has enough evidence to help prosecutors file charges against key figures of organized crime. Attorney Terrasini turns out to be the most influential Mafia boss on the island, and with a lot of effort and risk-taking from Cattani, is eventually put behind bars. In the last episode, Else Cattani dies in her husband's arms in an assassination attempt on him.
The second season solidified the success of the production, with an average rating of 15 million viewers per episode in Italy.
Season three The third season of La Piovra launched in 1987 and this time had seven episodes. The production style changed somewhat this time around as well. Directing duties passed to Luigi Perelli, who, in contrast to his predecessors Damiano Damiani and Florestano Vancini, had previously mainly worked in television. The screenplay was written by Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, who would later go on to work together again on the feature film The Stolen Children, among other productions. The season was filmed at Giardini Naxos and Taormina, Sicily, as well as in Milan and in the medieval abbey of San Pietro in Valle in Umbria. The show's ratings in Italy remained high, but started to show a slight downward trend. While an average of 15 million viewers had watched the first two seasons, the third one was watched by an average of 12 million Italian viewers. It was also sold to 77 countries, including the Soviet Union.
In this season, the action moves to Milan. The story exposes the actions of the financial mafia and international money-laundering channels. Corrado Cattani launches an investigation into the largest Italian bank, Antinari, and he meets members of the Antinari family. He falls in love with Giulia (Giuliana De Sio), the daughter of the family patriarch, Carlo Antinari, who runs the bank with his father, Nicola Antinari. Gaetano "Tano" Cariddi (Remo Girone), the most notorious mafia character of the series, initially holds the role of assistant at the Antinari Bank, before becoming its sole owner at the end of the season.
Season four Again directed by Luigi Perelli, the fourth season, launched in 1989, proved to be the most successful of the series. It reached an average of over 14 million viewers, a noticeable uptick from the previous season, and the last episode achieved a peak of 17.2 million viewers. The number of episodes returned to 6, but the length of each one was increased from 60 minutes up to nearly 100 minutes. Luigi Perelli was back at the helm of the project, with Petraglia and Rulli once again writing the screenplay.