Davailable from today on Netflix, Sicily Express is the new series created and starring Ficarra and Picone, the irresistible Sicilian comic couple who have always mixed laughter and calibrated social satire. This time the story focuses on two nurse friends who find a magical connectionand very fast, between Milan (where they work) and Sicily (where their families live). A “discovery” that will soon prove to be a source of misunderstandings but also many laughs.
Sicily Express Ficarra Picone series streaming on Netflix, plot, episodes
Salvo (Ficarra) and Valentino (Picone) are two Sicilian nurses out of office in Milan that they try to reconciling work and family life despite the distance. During the Christmas holidays in their Noto, one night they discover by chance that a rubbish bin magically connects Milan to Sicily in just a few seconds. Their life is completely turned upside down.
The two in fact try to take advantage of this shortcut to return home more oftenbut every time they use this “magic” passage they are born misunderstandings and complications unexpected. The families of the two in fact, including Salvo’s wife (Barbara Tabita) and Valentino’s partner (Katia Follesa), they begin to suspect of their continuous and rapid movements.
The dumpster thus becomes both a shortcut and a source of troubleforcing the protagonists to manage increasingly absurd unexpected events. Also because, the “magic door” has been discovered, the whole community wants to use it: from commuters to Palermo fans. In the meantime, work in the hospital gives no respite due to the despotic boss (Sergio Vastano) and creates further pressure. In the end Salvo and Valentino have to face the consequences of their choices and understand what really matters to them.
Ficarra and Picone in a scene from “Sicilia Express”. (Netflix)
A Christmas fairy tale in 5 episodes. The review
Miniseries in five episodes of approximately 30 minutes moon, Sicily Express And yet another confirmation of the mature and refined comedy of Ficarra and Picone, cat peace combine lightness and social commitment without rhetoric. The narrative alternates very successful comic situations with more extended momentsmaintaining a coherence that enhances the calm pace of the plot. Of course there is no shortage of laughter. But even when satire is touched upon, the Sicilian duo is very good at managing subtle comic timingallowing an affectionate and never caricatural irony to emerge.
From a visual point of view, Sicily Express And cloaked in poetic lights and warm colors while the direction chooses a sober approach that allows the actors to breathe and the scenes to find their own rhythm. Last but not least, the presence of a strong attention to social issues which, although never becoming “declared”, emerge between one comic scene and another. In short, a lightness that never translates into superficiality but instead shows how comedy can evolve without losing authenticity and attention to the problems of contemporary Italy. Including politics.
The cast of Sicily Express: from Katia Follesa to Jerry Calà and Sergio Vastano
In addition to the two Sicilian matadors, the cast of the series is full of well-known and much-loved faces. Not only that Katia Follesa in the role of Salvatore’s wife but also the great comedian Max Tortora who plays the role of the Prime Minister. Both perfect in making their characters believable without ever falling into banality.
In other secondary roles, however, they return two icons of 80s comedy: Jerry Calà and Sergio Vastano. The latter in the unpleasant role of health director where Salvo and Valentino work. A cynical man who does nothing to hide his contempt for the southernersthe. In short, a new role for him Vastano, historic member of the clan of Drive In by Antonio Ricci. Calà instead gives one of his most original interpretations and surprising in the role, even, of Minister of the Interior. And his unforgettable appearance will not be missing in the halls of power Maracaibo.