Calling Inspector Marotta: St Peter’s Treasure

Coming in at over three hours, Calling Inspector Marotta: St Peter’s Treasure is a long subtitled Italian movie set in the 1920s which has secured rather more attention that you might expect given that combination. This is thanks to the staring role in Calling Inspector Marotta for Luca Zingaretti, who also stars as Inspector Montalbano in the eponymous TV series.

This film is a detective thriller featuring the mob, a jewellery heist and a marriage in trouble – the sort of plot that features in oh so many American films, but this time it is not modern New York but Rome and the 1920s.

There are some nicely done subtle details about the rise of fascism dotted through the film including a throwaway comment about the trains not – yet – running on time. That makes this film particularly attractive for anyone who gets a bit bored with yet another American setting for a crime thriller, and all the more so if you know a little about Italian history and so can appreciate references such as that one to trains.

The different 1920s Italian setting and the care taken over the period details makes the film an amiable watch, even if the tension only occasionally gets high and the characters don’t quite move the viewer as much as they should.

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Buy Calling Inspector Marotta: St Peter’s Treasure here.