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Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia. Those who love them, like us, will continue to love them; those who don't, will continue to think they know something we don't.
Franco Franchi (described by Francis Ford Coppola, in a moment of forgivable delirium, as "the comedian par excellence") was a schizophrenic genius: flashes of enchantment and predictable jokes. Ciccio Ingrassia, on the other hand, was a great dramatic actor, endowed with intelligence far above the norm. The interview broadcast on "Fuori Orario" a few years ago leaves one astonished due to the memory and mental clarity that distinguished him. Almost everyone remembers him as Franchi's sidekick, but it is his performances in "Il Giorno della Civetta" and "Amarcord" that are etched in the annals of acting.
As Massimo Bertarelli wrote, exaggerating a bit, "they were A-list actors in C-list movies". Their films, masterpieces in our childhood memories, often fall into the banal, with sketches that reek too much of vaudeville. Sometimes, there was a sheer lack of preparation in the scenes, given their insane work pace: 100 feature films from 1960 to 1970.
But this film from '69 - almost at the end of their partnership - is different from the others. Here we find a depth that we don't find in their other works, with a complete plot that is not merely in the service of their gags. Terrible social satire, with the poor envying the rich and the rich doing everything to be hated by the poor who eventually snaps: "Your mother is and remains the queen of the broccoli". Demagoguery and accusations of demagoguery. Speeches that (almost) no one listens to, except when the punchline comes that calls for applause. But above all, biting political satire when the usher Franco Franchini (a candidate for Parliament for the Communist Party) is asked where the funds came from with which the P.C.I. financed its (colossal) election campaigns.
The last scene alone is enough for a 5, with the two friends-enemies first insulting each other in Parliament and then getting into, without being seen..., a beautiful Mercedes Coupé (owned by the communist Franchini...) with the famous exchange: Franco: "Today we pretended to argue enough"; Ciccio: "To save face".
The DeRecenZore DeRAXgliato saw it as a child without understanding why his father was laughing so much. He understood its greatness only after the Bicameral collusion - 30 years later. Truly a film out of time. Or, rather, a film already seen.
I hope that on DEB, the editors will create a page dedicated to those who made our childhood even more beautiful.
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