Fabio Montale (2001)

Before watching this, I read a review which said that Alain Delon played a cop who fought corruption at every turn. I wondered if this would be something like Central Nuit, where one of the cops (Viking) was rather violent. Fabio Montale turns to be a very enjoyable show and as I was watching it, I didn't want it to end.


Alain Delon plays Fabio Montale, a police inspector in Marseille who is near his day of retirement in the beginning the the series. Once a criminal, he is respected by enemies and loved by colleagues. In all 3 episodes he has to solve mysteries around the death of his friends (note: most of the people in the town know him). He has a comfortable life after work, in a little villa by the sea, next to Norine's, an old lady who often comes to give him decent food. Despite his old age, Delon is still delightful to watch. He handles the role convincingly and I believe he is an ex-criminal who later becomes a cop and all the women and his friends are charmed by him. In other movies, I see the enemies don't kill the hero when they have the chance because he is the hero and the movie needs him at least until the end of the movie, but in Fabio Montale, his enemies don't want to kill him because he is so loved by many that killing him will give them bad name (and bad luck, perhaps). One thing that came to my mind after watching this was: I hoped Marseille was not that dangerous. The people who lived there seemed familiar with gunshots. It's also nice to see his little boy who plays Thomas, Inspector Pessayre's son.