never imbalance, perfect harmony, really good Massimiliano Gallo and Vanessa Scalera – Corriere.it

The only thing to avoid are comparisons: with the edition of Eduardo De Filippo, first of all, with the film by De Sica with Loren and Mastroianni, “Matrimonio all’italiana”, with the television edition of Mariangela Melato and Massimo Ranieri. Let’s just say one thing: on TV, films succeed better than theatrical shots because in video every “theatrical” gesture becomes amplified, every intonation appears exaggerated, every look intimidating; the theater-theater on TV condemned to the laughable apostolate of rereading or revisiting.

Rai1 did well in proposing the TV film “Filumena Marturano” (awarded by ratings recorded 3,467,000 spectators equal to 21.5% share), directed by Francesco Amato, played by Vanessa Scalera and Massimiliano Gallo, already a successful couple for the series “Imma Tataranni” (and Gallo also for the figure of the melancholy lawyer). Taking the plot for granted (‘e figli so’ ffigli. E so’ tutti eguali), once again we understand how much “Filumena” is an ever-living text, inhabited by still current torments, a sort of Medea in a Neapolitan key. Francesco Amato’s adaptation (screenplay by Massimo Gaudosio and Filippo Gili) is more reminiscent of De Sica than De Filippo, but what makes the story of this “illegitimate marriage” vivid and exciting is the interpretation of the two protagonists.

Really very good to bring together the canons of melodrama with the intimacy of the television medium, without neglecting the distinctive features of their characters: the ex prostitute Marturano moved by an ancestral obstinacy, the rich pastry chef don Domenico Soriano a man who does not want to grow up, unable to assume any responsibility. In the version with Melato and Ranieri there was an imbalance between the two performers, here instead the perfect harmony and the two manage to bring out emotions, passion, tragedy from the depths: I spent a lifetime to have a family and the law doesn’t allow me … this justice?.