Hill and Frassica, "thanks to Don Matteo for 20 years friends"

Different, who can not be more, but complicit, and mirror at the same time, the first speaks the necessary, calm voice, has blue eyes, once called him Trinity. The other has a sharp joke, you can't look him in the eye because it makes you doubt, always, that he is making fun of you. One thing is certain: they understand each other with a glance. Terence Hill and Nino Frassica, on TV respectively Don Matteo and Marshal Cecchini, authentic friends also in life. ANSA met them on the eve of the broadcast on Rai1 (in first run from 9 January 2020 in the early evening) of the 12th season of the successful fiction listening champion (the 11th recorded 8.5 million), made since 2000 by Lux Vide for Rai Fiction, produced by Luca and Matilde Bernabei. To sign the direction this year Raffaele Androsiglio and Cosimo Alemà. Appreciated from Finland to Australia because good feelings have no boundaries. In two decades Italy has changed, but for millions of fans the detective priest has become almost one of the family. Frassica and Hill over the course of these long years have first studied each other, deeply respected each other, and finally friendship has exploded. "Terence Hill is a friend, a great gentleman, unique, spiritual," says Frassica. "
It must be emphasized that the Sicilian actor - discovered by Renzo Arbore - has rarely been involved emotionally, he himself the king of non sense, insists: "Terence is a myth for me".
On the other side, the actor, Mario Girotti, choir, born Terence Hill, born in 1939, "Without Nino it would not be the same, because he is the concrete part of the comedy of Don Matteo, but it also makes at certain moments he manages to make the two things fit together perfectly ". Over time the new generations have added.
The twelfth season - renewed in the format - is a journey into today's society: ten films, one per evening, with a strong thematic unity focused on the content of the 10 Commandments, updated and reinterpreted not only in a religious but also secular key. At the center of the narration always Don Matteo - the reference point for everyone - the Captain Anna Olivieri (Maria Chiara Giannetta) and the Marshal, a triangle capable of creating a story that mixes laughter and emotions. Nathalie Guetta, Maurizio Lastrico, Francesco Scali and many others return. Which for the two actors between the commandments is that which cannot be compromised, the sin that man absolutely cannot commit, is asked. Break time. "Surely murder, in the broadest sense of the term, there are so many ways today to kill you can annihilate a person, his dignity, make him nothing". Then adds Frassica "You can't compare it to not wanting the woman of others, also because one thing is to want, a thought". But the secret of Don Matteo, Terence and Nino discovered it, basically the TV series have changed? "We believe - the protagonist replies - depends on the mixture of genres and stories. For example, I wanted to know nothing of Don Matteo about his past, as it was for Trinity. Two figures who have solitude in common". While on Cecchini, Nino replies "we know everything".
But is it true that it is always the same? "Yes at a certain point I seemed - confirms Hill - a beggar, the patches are authentic. Now that we have this Pope Francis who is extraordinary, and is giving us all a great example, we miss that Don Matteo is shining" . The bicycle is not, but the model is "ancient, without gears". Hill recalls "When I was then offered a fiction with a priest, I found a historical motorcycle. A week before I start shooting, the director Enrico Oldoini calls me: 'I have to give you a pain: I don't see your priest on a motorbike but on a bicycle. Think about it, he's more athletic, nice. 'He was right. " "In the early seasons my concern was to make him credible, since the public was used to seeing me as a cowboy. Then people slowly became attached and I let myself get involved in the funny scenes, especially those with Nino Frassica". Now the writers have updated it, it is faster, perhaps too much for my taste, also because if we see Montalbano, which continues to make the highest listenings, here it never changes, not even the car. Instead they say it is better this way and in fact the ratings are good. "Frassica adds:" we are contemporaries, we renew every year. "But would you do Don Matteo on the 13th?" They don't tell us they wait before seeing how the ratings go on, "they reply in chorus" but of course we are ready. "Adds Frassica: Don Matteo every situation is measured to please everyone: However, we could arrive at season 30". And a film together? "Ready for any proposal, we are here". The twelfth season is rich in the cast: to the well-known faces and consolidated characters are added numerous guest stars of the caliber of Fabio Rovazzi, Christiane Filangieri, Simone Montedoro, Giorgia Surina, Nadir Caselli, Simona Cavallari, Paolo De Vita, The Jackal, Elena Sofia Ricci (in the role of herself), Antonio Catania, Stefano Dionisi.