We are not “modern young people” who don’t like nativity scenes. And the comedies of Eduardo De Filippo Because of our age, we have already seen them from others, in the theater and on television. Or we enjoyed the master's recordings from the sixties and seventies.
But after the talking parrot, the winged pacifier, the “Porompompero” and the ballet “I’m not paying you!” Sergio Castellitto was broadcast on Rai 1leaded by Edoardo De AngelisPicomedia production, the question is obligatory: but why?
The theme of the dream, the soul and the mystery or the dialogue between Don Ferdinando, the lawyer Strumillo and the priest Don Raffaele in the film broadcast on Rai 1 is reduced to a general, meaningless “allusion”. When Don Ferdinando screams, the priest screams, instead Donna Concetta whispers. And even here we don't understand why.
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In many cases the comedy transcends its boundaries and becomes something else, perhaps a sketch or perhaps something else; it also makes the viewer scream and exclaim “even less!” especially when Castellitto starts humming at the piano. The director's choice almost seems to say: the original script doesn't make today's viewers laugh, I have to interpret it myself. “You don’t make me better,” Eduardo always said to those who changed his lines.
De Angelis and Castellitto had a great opportunity with the three comedies Rai entrusted to them. “Christmas at the Cupiello House”, “Saturday, Sunday and Monday” and “I'm Not Paying You” could have been the subject of films in the spirit of tradition or, rightly, products of profound innovation, as has happened for centuries with Shakespeare.
Instead, the strangest and rudest path was chosen: the fear of distortion (we are still in Rai 1 prime time and Auditel has its own rules) mixed with the desire to distance itself from the original. This is probably why the triptych produced by Picomedia was indigestible. Let's not close.
The parrot, the pacifier, the dromedary, the whole zoo (perhaps De Filippo would have liked it, we know he loved cats), the piano, the bagpipe player.
The Castellitto-De Angelis duo were the pineapple pizza of Edwardian production. There will definitely be those who liked it and those who will like it. Luckily, however, the 1964 version is streaming on Raiplay with an amazing Luisa Conte and an exceptional version Ugo D'Alessio.
There is one very beautiful thing worth mentioning in this production: the final character (Don Saverio, who with De Angelis is not just a painting but takes shape), played by Antonio Casagrande, who died in 2022 at the age of ninety-one. Casagrande worked with De Filippo in the sixties, he was, among other things, wonderful Luigi Strada in “Always say yes to him”. His exit was on behalf of Eduardo, and he also shared the film with his son Maurizio, who plays the priest Don Raffaele.
Professional journalist, head of the Naples service at Fanpage.it. He teaches ethics and deontology of journalism at LUMSA. He has a newsletter called “Greetings from Naples.” He is co-author of the books Il Casalese (Edizioni Cento Autori, 2011); Novantadue (Castelvecchi, 2012), Le mani nella città and L'Invisibile (Round Robin, 2013-2014). He won the Giancarlo Siani journalism prize in 2007 and the Paolo Giuntella and Marcello Torre prizes in 2012.