Sergio Castellitto: “Culture is our vaccine”

Christmas at the Cupiello house by Eduardo de Filippo, a party classic that has moved and excited several generations, first at the theater and then on TV, relives on Rai 1 (December 22 in prime time) thanks to the film of the same name by Edoardo De Angelis (Indivisible). Luca Cupiello is played by Sergio Castellitto, who admired De Filippo since the time of the Academy. “The first time I saw him act was at the Elysée in Rome”, recalls the actor and director, “for us students it was like a rockstar, a slender man who with his voice petrified and amused the audience ».

120 years after the birth of the Neapolitan playwright and almost 90 years after the first performance of Christmas at the Cupiello house Rai makes a gift to viewers with a new version of one of his most famous plays. De Angelis moves the story to 1950, but we find the emotional pieces «of what today we could define as a dysfunctional family», comments Castellitto.

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Luca, the head of the family with the rite of the crib, his wife Concetta (Marina Confalone), a woman who tries to hide her daughter’s scandals Weather in Ninuccia (Pina Turco), Tommasino (Adriano Pantaleo), the second born slacker and rogue, Pasquale (Tony Laudadio), Luca’s brother and in constant conflict with his nephew, Vittorio (Alessio Lapice), Ninuccia’s lover and her husband Nicola (Antonio Milo) we recognize them, but «this time they are more neurotic and carnal. De Angelis makes us discover their interiority»Assures Castellitto that in the future he will return to interpret two other texts by Eduardo, again for Rai.

The bitter and poetic history of the Neapolitan genius is still contemporary “Because it is concerned with telling the psyche, the hidden and profound mechanisms that move our relationships”, reveals Castellitto, “in Christmas at the Cupiello house there is everything today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow ». The actor of Do not move he was not afraid to confront a sacred monster: “I am humble and intelligent, I have not compared myself with Eduardo, he is unattainable. I was just an actor and I played the role of an extraordinary Chekhovian character », who thrilled him. “It is one of the privileges of this profession: get excited on the set e bring home the nostalgic memory of that emotion. It will be age », he reflects.

How will Christmas at the Castellitto house be? We ask the interpreter. «We are six in the family and therefore we will not break any rules, we will be around a table and we will live these holidays in solitude. We will make some video calls to the uncles », he answers.

On the son Pietro (records of The indifferent, awarded at the Venice Film Festival) which will soon surpass him for fame (in 2021 we will see him in the series I was hoping de died first in the role of Totti) comments: «I can’t wait for it to happen, you love children by nature, you don’t necessarily have to respect them or admire them. For me it is a great satisfaction to love them and respect them all ».

As a representative of the show in its entirety, Castellitto cannot fail to let go of the closure of theaters and cinemas. “The I find it absurd, I would have been less rigid. According to the statistics they are among the safest places: the public is distanced, does not speak and holds the mask. Having closed them means having sent a confused and wrong signal. At a time when drugs and vaccines are being demanded, perhaps the only available vaccine we had was the culture one. People need to be protected, but also to be caressed».

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