daydreambeliever
10-05-2007, 09:03 AM
Don Matteo
The Catholic Church has complained about many TV shows but there is one Italian series which should make it very happy. Don Matteo features former Spaghetti Western star, Terence Hill, as a modern day Father Brown, i.e.a priest who investigates crimes. Don Matteo, although only middle-aged, is a slightly world-weary figure who brings wisdom and comfort to his parishioners and solves crimes in a very logical way with a touch of religion thrown in. He tends to annoy the town police with his hobby, especially when he usually turns out to be right.
Terence Hill carries the show with his great charm (good looks and baby-blue eyes help!) but the other characters are amusing and well-acted. The two policemen in the series are especially good. The handsome Flavio Ansinna as Captain Anseschi plays the part of a stern policeman in charge who becomes softer because of his unrequited love for the beautiful mayor with lots of panache. Nina Frassica is his comical and disorganized sidekick as Officer Cecchini. The arrival of the little orphan, Camilla (Sara Santostasi), who is disappointed to find Don Matteo is not her father, was an excellent addition to the series. Both outsiders, she and the priest understand each other and he becomes a mentor to the struggling girl.
The Austrian-Italian actor says in an interview at his website that there is, surprisingly, not that much difference between Father Matteo and his former characters. “He has an adventurous side to his personality, that's what I look for in every character I play, since the times of 'Trinity'. I am accustomed to adventurous roles and stories. They are part of my personality now. Actually, there is not much of a difference between the duster coat and the priest's robe. Both are worn by mysterious characters.”
The setting of the series, Gubbio, is almost like a character itself. A mountain town with attractive medieval buildings and romantic Perugian scenery, many people want to travel there because of the show. It is not an easy place to travel to from Rome without a car, however, so I didn’t go there, unfortunately.
Don Matteo is a family show, and like most of these it has been criticized for being sentimental and saccharine. John Exshaw of Retro Cinema, found himself watching the program at the Venice Film Festival this year and wrote that 'watching Don Matteo was ‘rather like being mugged by Bing Crosby (though without the songs)!'
Lisa-Anne Sanderson
The Catholic Church has complained about many TV shows but there is one Italian series which should make it very happy. Don Matteo features former Spaghetti Western star, Terence Hill, as a modern day Father Brown, i.e.a priest who investigates crimes. Don Matteo, although only middle-aged, is a slightly world-weary figure who brings wisdom and comfort to his parishioners and solves crimes in a very logical way with a touch of religion thrown in. He tends to annoy the town police with his hobby, especially when he usually turns out to be right.
Terence Hill carries the show with his great charm (good looks and baby-blue eyes help!) but the other characters are amusing and well-acted. The two policemen in the series are especially good. The handsome Flavio Ansinna as Captain Anseschi plays the part of a stern policeman in charge who becomes softer because of his unrequited love for the beautiful mayor with lots of panache. Nina Frassica is his comical and disorganized sidekick as Officer Cecchini. The arrival of the little orphan, Camilla (Sara Santostasi), who is disappointed to find Don Matteo is not her father, was an excellent addition to the series. Both outsiders, she and the priest understand each other and he becomes a mentor to the struggling girl.
The Austrian-Italian actor says in an interview at his website that there is, surprisingly, not that much difference between Father Matteo and his former characters. “He has an adventurous side to his personality, that's what I look for in every character I play, since the times of 'Trinity'. I am accustomed to adventurous roles and stories. They are part of my personality now. Actually, there is not much of a difference between the duster coat and the priest's robe. Both are worn by mysterious characters.”
The setting of the series, Gubbio, is almost like a character itself. A mountain town with attractive medieval buildings and romantic Perugian scenery, many people want to travel there because of the show. It is not an easy place to travel to from Rome without a car, however, so I didn’t go there, unfortunately.
Don Matteo is a family show, and like most of these it has been criticized for being sentimental and saccharine. John Exshaw of Retro Cinema, found himself watching the program at the Venice Film Festival this year and wrote that 'watching Don Matteo was ‘rather like being mugged by Bing Crosby (though without the songs)!'
Lisa-Anne Sanderson