It’s the stuff of classic crime fiction. In a region torn apart by crime, one man stands up for what’s right and takes down the criminals terrorising the innocent. But Cacciatore: The Hunter is based on actual events in 1990s Sicily, where prosecutor Alfonso Sabella (who’s book Cacciatore di Mafiosi is the basis for the series) waged a real-life war on the local Mafia. Like they used to say, the names have been changed to protect the innocent – not that you’ll find too many of the innocent here.
Prosecutor Saverio Barone (Francesco Montanari) isn’t an easy man to get along with. When we first meet him, he’s about to turn his boss in for corruption, and it’s hard to tell just how much it’s about integrity and how much it’s about taking his boss’s job. But in the 1990s Italy needs that kind of ruthlessness: after a recent attack left two high profile anti-Mafia prosecutors dead, the government is newly determined to face down organised crime and bring everyone, foot soldiers and big bosses alike, to justice.