Based on the novels “I didn’t understand anything”, “My baby mother-in-law” and “Divorce with style”, by the Neapolitan writer and screenwriter Diego De Silva, published by Einaudi, it is a eight episode series50 minutes each, divided into four evenings and directed by Alessandro Angelini. It has a unique leading character: Vincenzo Malinconico, Italian lawyer of nearly 40 years. Separated from the successful psychologist Nives, with two children, Alagia and Alfredo, and a great friend of his ex-mother-in-law Assunta. Although he is handsome and women appreciate him for his insecurity, despite forming meaningful relationships, he is unable to achieve a complete love life. At least until he meets Alessandra Persiano, the most courted lawyer in court.
His client portfolio is decidedly small, he deals with litigation that is not at all demanding such as traffic accidents, condominium conflicts, separations, small debt collections, and does not always bring home victories. There is only one thing he really knows how to do, without anyone ever asking him to: philosophize. While wandering the streets of Salerno, encountering his miseries and his greatness, defending a gangster or watching a tragicomic reality show in a supermarket, Vincenzo always has a thought in mind, although it is usually off topic.
Resigned to the idleness of days that are all the same, he must defend a certain Mimmo O Burzone, a sordid butcher of the Camorra, accused of cutting into pieces inconvenient corpses and disposing of them with profound indifference. At first, Malinconico would like to refuse to defend him, appealing to ethical principles.
Then, convinced by Brooke, Burzone’s daughter, who reminds him of his Alagia, he accepts the commission. This adventure into the depths of the Sicilian mafia, halfway between comedy and detective novel, will allow the protagonist to meet Amodio Tricarico, a surreal all-rounder from the underworld who, from one moment to the next, proclaims himself his right-hand man, and he never leaves it again, neither in good times nor in bad.
The series is led by Massimiliano Gallo (one of the performers of the iconic series “I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone”, also broadcast in Europe) and he is accompanied in the cast by Denise Capezza, Francesco Di Leva, Teresa Saponangelo, among others. Result
a good bet on the part of Rai 1, its main producer, since it is not the usual fiction of lawyers transformed into detectives, but rather a unique send-up that combines farce, tragedy and endearing characters.
