Donna Leon (TV Series) Vendetta (2000) User Reviews

Not too Italian, but I liked the series

[Turan · 7/10 · 24 July 2006]

The "Commissario Brunetti" books have never been translated into Italian at the request of Ms. Leon, so it also seems reasonable that she did not want any Italian actors in the movies.

The actors try hard to play their Italian parts, but they remain German or Austrian. There is enough local colour of Venice to make up for it. And never mind the missing Italian actors: the "Donna Leon" movies are nicely made and guarantee ninety minutes of suspense and good entertainment.

We'll never find out the difference between a German and a truly Italian version.

Donna Leon films

[sandhammaren05 · 10/10 · 26 February 2012]

I've read all of the Commisario Brunettio books and have seen several Donna Leon films in German. I know Venice well, have visited there 2x and spent a cold Feb. week there the lat time, living on Lido and buying unique vegetables and a bottle of wine at a local market at the end of each day. We were there with our two small sons and rode the Vaporetti to rest our feet. I know the flavor of Venice, and I know the flavor of Venice that's presented in Donna Leon's books. I can tell you that the German actors in her films play the Italian roles exceedingly convincingly. Those films give the real flavor of life in Venice, and of the Comissario and his family.

Boring and wrongly casted

[cif-3 · 3/10 · 16 October 2000]

The main problem with this picture is the fact that nearly the complete cast consists of german actors who believe that they can act as italian people. The book was written by an american and the germans thought that they can make a nice film out of it. They were wrong. The Film is as much italian as Paris is the capital of Greece. The story is o.k. but the performance is awful.