Films and series set in Liguria. And what the Italian sounds like.

Rai prime-time production set in Genoa where the cast speaks standard Italian with at most light Ligurian intonation and a stray local expression from secondary characters.

Mainstream network delivery: normal conversational speed, clear articulation, only occasional overlap in squad-room scenes.

Everyone speaks standard Italian; the Genoa setting and the supporting cast's northern and southern accents add colour but no local lexicon or grammar.

Normal conversational speed with some overlap when the two partners talk over each other, but interrogations and explanations are delivered clearly.

The two travellers speak standard Italian throughout; southern and Neapolitan colour surfaces only in incidental characters met on the journey south.

Gassman delivers long sarcastic runs at speed, cutting across and over his companion's replies.

Speech is standard Italian throughout, with Berlinguer's characteristic Sardinian-tinged delivery and light Roman colour in the party and family scenes, but nothing that departs from standard grammar or lexicon.

Berlinguer's own measured, deliberate delivery slows much of the film, while the meeting and corridor scenes bring normal conversational speed with some overlap.

Stated languages: italiano, tedesco

Essentially standard Italian of the period throughout; the Genoese setting and the German officers' accented Italian add colour but no lines are carried by a local variety.

De Sica's rapid, wheedling patter and the clipped interrogation exchanges run fast, with frequent interruption and people talking over each other in the cell and street scenes.

Stated languages: francese, inglese, italiano, spagnolo, tedesco

Almost everything is spoken in standard Italian; police and officials carry audible southern and northern accents and occasional regional colouring, but nothing that changes the words a learner hears.

Much of the dialogue is shouted over other shouting: cross-talk in corridors and cells, constant interruption, several speakers at once, plus foreign-language voices cutting across the Italian.