Alessandro D'Alatri, who died today at the age of 68, was adopted by Naples, where he went to film the second season of 'Bastardi di Pizzofalcone' and the first of 'Il commissario Ricciardi', and the city mourns him today.
Maurizio De Giovanni, author of the novels on which the two series were based, and who had a very intense relationship with the director, recalls it. "It's a terrible thing, a bolt from the blue," says De Giovanni. "We knew he was ill, but we didn't imagine it could be this serious . "
"The two seasons he directed," the crime novelist recalls, " are certainly the two best things I've ever done on TV. He was truly a visionary, intelligent, quick-witted, and extraordinarily respectful of the text."
De Giovanni also recalls that his relationship with the actors on set was strong, including Lino Guanciale, who plays Ricciardi, and Alessandro Gassman, the lead character in 'Bastards.' "He helped them get into their characters and never overlapped or clashed, but always built through dialogue."
"I wish anyone could work with someone like D'Alatri," adds the Neapolitan writer, "capable of conveying in movement, light, and shadow exactly what you had imagined in your novels ." With the city, De Giovanni recalls, "he had established a wonderful relationship and had managed to understand it profoundly. Today Naples loses a fellow citizen."
