D.to the television studios in Herod’s Palestine awaiting the birth of Jesus. This is the “journey” of Ficarra and Picone, the Sicilian comic duo starring in The first Christmas, comedy in the first tv tonight at 9.30 pm on Canale 5.
A fairy tale, set in the year of Christ’s birth, which sees the two matadors grappling with a very special trip to the Holy Land.
A film that between comic sketches, important themes and good feelings, was a success for Ficarra and Picone, consolidating their status as comedians-authors capable of making people think as well as laugh. And we’ll see if the series Stuck, arriving on Netflix on January 1st will confirm this healthy mix.
The first Christmas: the plot of the movie
Salvo lives in Palermo (Ficarra), a thief of sacred art and convinced atheist. Roccadimezzo Sicula is instead the place where we find father Valentino (Ficarra), a priest fascinated by the iconic power of the nativity scene. On the eve of the holiday season, Salvo does not resist the temptation to appropriate a precious relic which is located right in the church of the small village of Don Valentino.
Once the theft is discovered, the priest has no choice but to run after the thief. But, in doing so, by magic or for whatever other reason, the two find themselves catapulted into the Palestine of the year zero, a few days before the birth of Jesus.
After being captured by some Roman militiamen, the two are taken to prison, but manage to escape. Once they have escaped, however, they put themselves on in search of the Virgin Mary, intending to ask her for a miracle: that of returning “forward” in time to the present. Will our heroes be able to see their beautiful Sicily again?
Between Italian comedy and Hollywood
Very solid couple of made in Italy comedy, Ficarra and Picone have been alternating successful TV programs for years, such as Strip the news, blockbuster films. As in the case of Summer time, the most watched Italian film of the 2017 season the previous works were a bit too derivative gags on the small screen, with The first Christmas the duo raised the bar, attempting a difficult synthesis between American blockbuster and Italian comedy.
The journey back in time of the two protagonists can indeed remember both titles like Back to the Future that our own cult like We just have to cry.
Backed by an excellent script, The first Christmas winks at all audiences, from the youngest to the adults, and, without neglecting the laughter ensured by the comic strength of the two, he addresses important issues such as immigration, altruism and faith religious.
The Netflix series coming in January
Out next January 1st, Stuck is the first TV series by Ficarra and Picone created specifically for the streaming platform, Six episodes, between comedy and a pinch of mystery, which tell a laughing crime story. The story is about two friends in the wrong place at the wrong time; involved in a murder, the two escape but will soon have to deal with a mafia clan.
In the cast in addition to Ficarra and Picone, who in fiction they are the owners of a company that sells and repairs small appliances, there is also Marianna di Martino in the role of Agata – a longtime friend of the two protagonists -, Anna Favella who plays Ester, Salvo’s wife, and the legendary character actor Tony Sperandeo as Tonino, an old-fashioned man who grew up under the protective wing of the mafia.
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