21/03/2024 - The Oscar-winning Italian director oversaw the restoration works on the TV miniseries, shelved for almost four decades and now showing at Series Mania

The miniseries The Camorrist, shot by Oscar-winning Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, is coming to the small screen nearly 40 years after it was originally shot. The show was filmed alongside his feature-length movie The Professor.

The film was released in theatres in 1986, while the series was shelved indefinitely. “Unfortunately, the movie didn't have an easy life, owing to the controversial themes it dealt with, and it disappeared from circulation a few weeks after its release in theatres. Discouraged, the distributors never aired the television series, and the five episodes were lost in the 35 mm material warehouses,” explains the director.

The never-before-aired series got a second chance after it was recently sold to multiple European territories. The 18th edition of the Rome Film Fest premiered the first and fourth episodes, which are also screening at the ongoing Series Mania festival in Lille (15-22 March).

The Camorrist delves into the life of a Camorra boss known as “The Professor” (Ben Gazzara), who manages the reformed Camorra from behind bars. With the aid of his loyal sister Rosaria (Laura Del Sol), he escapes, establishing a powerful criminal empire that permeates every stratum of society. “The current reworking, which required great artistic and professional commitment, has been completed after almost a year of activity,” explains Titanus president Guido Lombardo.

The series underwent a 4K restoration, overseen by Tornatore himself, and features an original score by Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani. “Thanks to the revival of the glorious Titanus brand, those five hours have emerged from the shadows, and Guido Lombardo, together with the new executives, asked me to restore and re-edit them. I gladly accepted the challenge, which involved a new 4K scanning of the original materials, innovative colour correction, a prodigious remaking of the mono sound converted to 5.1, and resizing to the 16:9 format from the original 1:33. The editing remained intact, but with slight adjustments to reduce the duration of each episode to about 55 minutes,” elaborates the director.

The series will air on Mediaset in Italy and has been acquired by AMC for Spain and Portugal. In addition, The Camorrist has already been sold to further territories, including Slovakia, the Baltics and the CIS.

The Camorrist was produced by Titanus Production and RTI/Mediaset. Its distribution is handled by Minerva Pictures.