Antonio Albanese, laughter in prison: «A forgotten world»- Corriere.it

The story is true. It happened in Sweden in 1985, when an actor, Jan Jönson, staged with five inmates of Kumla Maximum Security Penitentiary “Waiting for Godot”
by Beckett. A start of triumphal tour followed by disaster: theevasion of all the actors before the repeat in Gothenburg. A story already told in the cinema by Emmanuel Corcol in “A triumph“, that Riccardo Milani (with Michele Astori) sewed on ad Antonio Albanesetransferring the story to Velletri prison, in «Thank you guys” (from Wednesday 11 January in theaters with Vision in 450 copies). «Antonio is an actor of little success — lives dubbing porn movies, ed — who is pushed by his friend Michele, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, to agree to keep a small laboratory in prison. Thanks to contact with these guys will recover passion for his job and will be able to convince director of prison, Sonia Bergamasco, to give him time and opportunity to stage their Godot».

There fourth time together for Albanese and Milani (after “A Cat on the Ring Road”

1 and 2 and “Mom or Dad?”). «Comedies that talk about our time and know how to go deep inside of the characters,” the actor points out. Starting with him, who rediscovers his passion for the profession after “decades of orgasms and moans”, as Michele reminds him. “In the guise of movie director I felt like I was reliving it same surprise of my beginnings. I can say I was saved from the theater, in a certain way. I found out late, at 22, 23, and he made me a happier man. The character rediscovers together with his actors thatfleeting moment in which the unexpressed emotions find their way to emerge on stage. I think it was the same for my colleagues who played the prisoners — Vinicio Marchioni, Giacomo Ferrara, Giorgio Montanini, Andrea Lattanzi and Bogdan Iordachioiu — all very good at get tattooed on the despair of that context”.

The culturehe says, can do the difference. «It is very important but it is of less and less interest. In last election the word culture has not been said by anyone. Shameful”. As, they all insist, is the general disinterest to the prison world. “Too little and bad talk about it – says Albanese -, only in front of tragic consequences as happened at Beccaria. We filmed in Velletri and Rebibbia and we spoke with young people who work, learn to build things, and many people who take care of them in the right way».

The idea of “Thank you guys”relaunches Milani, is to offer a «simple key to treat complicated topicseven hostile. Antonio persists in seek humanity of everyone – inmates, probation officers, actors – in a place where it is crushed. I had already happened to shoot in prison, there is a lot willingness to open upmany people busy for fight the discomfort, a work that deserves recognition. A comedy about many true stories. “As the figure of the director, I almost always met women in that role. There is the State: she manages to force things, breaks mechanisms. Search spaces not of freedom but of possibilities».