The series in 8 episodes of 50’ is produced by Garbo for Mediaset. Due to the success, publisher Mondadori will release a book inspired by the series. For the first time the book will tell the story taking place between the two seasons with a new idea, the trial of the culprit.
In the first season, the community of a small village by the sea was shocked by the brutal murder of adolescent Laura and by the terrible discovery of the culprit. The investigations led by the duo-cops formed by Andrea Baldini, the local police inspector and Luisa Ferrari a homicide policewoman from the city of Trieste, were incredibly positive but each one was dealing with different family issues. In the second season when everything in the small village of Castel Marciano seems to turn again in the peaceful and quite place as it was, the community is shocked again by a double homicide. The local cop Andrea must make an important decision for his life and career, but also faces a threat from his past, while the colleague Luisa Ferrari is divided by her desire to be a mother. The new crime also involves a little girl that seems to be very attracted to the cop Luisa.
Today, we have the chance to meet one of the author Leonardo Valenti who wrote the TV series with Jean Ludwigg and Adriano Barone who wrote the book.
What is the story of the second season Leonardo Valenti?
Sometime after the gruesome murder that shook the small community of Castel Marciano, another crime is ready to shatter the newfound peace. The stakes are higher as this time Luisa and Andrea must deal with a double-murder, a killer at large and with their own personal fears. They need to breach into the silence and distress of the one and only survived witness, Giulia, a small girl aged 6.
Did you have any inspiration model for the second season?
If the first season was loosely inspired by cult series like Broadchurch and Twin Peaks, this second season is original. We have been guided by the main characters, Luisa and Andrea, and further explored their needs, weaknesses, strengths, desires, and fears. We kept the first season's thematic issue anyway: what means to be parent and to be a son. And if I must find a model that inspired me, it's not in the tv series that I did find inspiration but in Bruce Springsteen's melancholic description of ordinary heroes and small-time criminals.
How did France’s viewers react with the first season aired by France 3as you are living there?
The series was warmly welcomed by the audience and had strong ratings. Reviews were mostly good, and Le Figaro published three articles about the series, calling it "a gem of suspense" and "the italian answer to Twin Peaks".
How did you conceive the idea of a novel between the two series Adriano Barone?
The idea came from Leonardo Valenti and Jean Ludwigg
I've known Leo for years, and we have a deep mutual professional respect, and we've always told each other it'd be great to work together sooner or later.
Leo contacted me and told me that "The Silence of the Water" had been greenlighted for a second season, but that the idea of the plot changed from a direct sequel of the first season to something completely different.
But now there was an unused, good, and interesting plot. And Leonardo wanted to create a spin off and decided it was the time to work together.
So, he asked me if I was interested in writing a novel out of it. I immediately said I was; I asked my editor in Mondadori if they were interested, and in a short time the novel was greenlighted too.
Is the book different from the tv series?
It's a direct sequel of the first series and it starts with the trial to Grazia Livon, but something unexpected will take place, and a new murder will reunite the Luisa Ferrari-Andrea Baldini team.
We wanted the novel to be understandable for everybody, so my editor, Giordano, didn't watch the series till the novel was done to make sure that it could be read even by someone who wasn't familiar with the series.
When will the book be released?
The second season of the show will be broadcasted on November 27th, while the novel will be available in all bookshops and online shops on December 1st, hoping to get promotional traction from the broadcast. We hope this experiment works, not only for us, but for other shows too, and that this model can become a standard in the Italian industry, changing the mentality that considers novels the only safe IPs to develop a show; we hope we can demonstrate that the tv show can be the base for a cross media plan: it's nothing special, it's done all over the world and in Italy we really need to catch up if we want to stay in the global game of scripted series.
