Plot
Franco Soneri (Luca Barbareschi) was the best investigator in Ferrara, Italy. But now he leaves the fog behind him and relocates to Turin, and the new change brings about a new set of challenges for him to face and overcome. He leads his new team to solve four unique cases that have many twists and turns and keeps you guessing to the very end. Just like Columbo, Soneri smokes a cigar and loves them vintage (which means they get left for 12 months to mature), his demeanor is often straight-laced and very serious, but he can also be funny, brave, and steals evidence so he can solve each of the cases he faces. He also turns a blind eye to other things in the television show, but I don’t want to ruin it for you.
Review
The 2-disc box set has two episodes on each disc, both discs have the option of having the Italian subtitles turned on or off, sadly no bonus options are on any of the discs. But fans of special features should still give this box set a chance, because the lack thereof doesn’t affect the quality of the box set, which also features an insightful booklet all about the genre of neo-noir television, that is very insightful and fills you with knowledge about the subject. The main star of the Italian police drama series Franco Soneri is played by veteran actor Luca Barbareschi, Luca is famous for acting in Cannibal Holocaust. Arrow Films is releasing more and more titles under the Nordic Noir & Beyond series which includes this phenomenal series, so keep an eye out on the website for future releases (the link to the website will be posted below).
Fog And Crimes feels like an homage to classic detectives series because it reminded me a lot of BBC’s Luther and Columbo among others. The scenery is beautiful yet haunting and focuses on a part of Italy we hardly get to see. The classic architecture brings back nostalgia to the viewer which is often never heard of in a television series set in a different country. Seeing the lives of men and women in Italy and the society they live in is often eye opening and interesting viewing because they often have to have judges assigned to there cases to review each step and they get final say on an arrest. There’s also quite a lot of gypsy discrimination in the show which is highlighted. I think highlighting real issues makes this show one of the best detective dramas I’ve seen in a long time. Soneri is one of those cool detectives that makes smoking a cigar cool again, Columbo was the first to do this, but Soneri made it an art form. The cigar is a thinking device for the character instead of a bad habit which was a good choice to do instead of making him addicted to smoking them. The show also features the Italian cuisine, with all of the restaurants and cafes highlighted in the show.
Special Features
N/A
Nothing except a booklet focusing on the Nordic Noir & Beyond series of television shows that’s gained a huge following over the years.
Rating
4/5
Sadly it couldn’t be given a 5/5 rating because it had no special features. The DVD box set is still great nevertheless and deserves the 4/5 rating given.
Purchase
The third and final season of Arrow Films’ growing sub-label ‘Criminale Italia’s title Fog and Crimes can be purchased on the website beginning on 28th September 2015.
*Special thanks to Arrow Films for the review DVD.