Ficarra and Picone are back with Incastrati 2: «We have a duty to make fun of the mafia»

It is the comedy of those who know how to laugh at themselves and their land, who manage to make a complaint without boring, without moralizing of any kind. And this is why Ficarra and Picone (they will celebrate 30 years of collaboration in October) return to Netflix on March 2 with the second season of Incastrati, the mix of comedy and drama in a marginal Sicily, which successfully marked their debut in seriality, it’s a series with an intelligent laugh, the one that doesn’t need vulgarity, profanity, sex, or forcing, the one that amuses us by giving the audience an opportunity to reflect. Our two aerial heroes still find themselves trapped in an involuntary succession of surreal events within which it is difficult to extricate themselves. The presentation of the six episodes of which they are directors, protagonists and authors was made to the press today in Rome. The second season closes the series, which was designed not to continue further. ‘The finale will reveal what the initial project was, underline Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone. «Serialism was something we wanted to experiment with, Netflix gave us this opportunity», says Ficarra. Picone: «When different things come before us, we like to face them». On the arrest of Messina Denaro, Ficarra says “we filmed before and wrote before, but then you will see how our most holy father will be arrested”. Picone recalls “in the first season, Father Santissimo said that now we have to keep our heads down because we know that sooner or later people will forget”. Then they add «making fun of the mafia is a duty for us, also because they take themselves very seriously. We started with Nati Stanchi, La Matassa, it’s the only way we know». Ficarra points out: «all the jokes about the mafia are written by Picone and they are very witty» Picone, notes «we would not have put the mafia in the series if we didn’t need to say something, in particular not to forget». The two directors and protagonists are keen to thank the police for their “availability” then reveal that and in a scene of this second season “there is a scene in which we pay homage to Falcone’s death with a shot of the case of the car of the massacre and in an episode we remember Borsellino with the prosecutor Nicolosi (Leo Gullotta) who quotes a speech by the magistrate. We have also reconstructed a marble slab with the names of the fallen». With the series we want to talk about the fight against the mafia because we never forget that there are kids born after the massacres, so what happened shouldn’t be forgotten. Produced by Attilio De Razza for Tramp Limited, the second season maintains the same writing team as the first, as well as Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone, Fabrizio Testini, Leonardo Fasoli, Maddalena Ravagli. The main cast sees the return of Anna Favella (Ester), Marianna di Martino (Agata Scalia), Tony Sperandeo (Tonino Macaluso, known as ‘Cosa Inutilè), Maurizio Marchetti (Portiere Martorana), Domenico Centamore (Don Lorenzo, known as ‘Primo Salè ), Sergio Friscia (Sergione) and Mary Cipolla (Signora Antonietta), with the participation of Leo Gullotta (Prosecutor Nicolosi). With regard to the future with respect to cinema in theaters compared to streaming which is taking up more and more space, Ficarra reasoned «that the more offers there are, the more people see stories, I see things in streaming but I go to the cinema when there is something it attracts me, I think the two things can coexist. Among other things, thanks to the series, actors were born, we have the opportunity to know stories from different parts of the world and it allows us to relate to an international market. We are thrilled to hear that Incastrati should be released in 190 countries. A way to shorten distances and also influences the way we tell certain things. At the same time, there are films that when seen in theaters give you enormous emotion. I am convinced that the theater will have a new central role». Ilaria Castiglioni (Netflix) says: «I would like to dispel a myth, it is often said that comedians are very sad people, it was not like this with them. I think comedy is one of the most difficult genres to do, they wrote, directed and performed it, they tried their hand at realizing it in the best possible way». Ficarra continues: «In Incastrati we make fun of the TV series for how it is structured, it has a different writing. The cliffhanger is a very funny thing, it makes us laugh a lot then the prequel because in the prequels the character is rejuvenated as Better Call Saul. The best moments on set were just doing the fake series The Touch of the Killer and The Look of the Killer ». Favella reveals that there is an unscripted moment which is a tribute to Massimo Troisi». The second season of «Incastrati» begins where the first ended: Salvo and Valentino are in danger of life. The two actors announce their film at the cinema for Christmas 2023.