Farfallon
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''Farfallon'' is a 1974 Italian
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Riccardo Pazzaglia Riccardo Pazzaglia (12 September 1926 – 4 October 2006) was an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter, songwriter (for Domenico Modugno), TV and radio personality. Born in Naples, Pazzaglia graduated in direction from the Centro Speri ...
starring the comic duo
Franco and Ciccio Franco () and Ciccio () were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theater field, and end ...
. It is a parody of ''Papillon''.


Plot

Farfallon is a Sicilian pastry chef who finds himself in prison for attempted murder and is obsessed with the idea of escaping to carry out his crime. During a transfer by sea following a riot, he is approached by a neighboring politician, the baron of Vistacorta, in prison, in turn, for a fraudulent contract on the construction of the bridge over the Strait of Messina, who instructs him to keep him a precious cartridge case containing a considerable sum of money. After a failed escape attempt to Naples, Farfallon is hidden by the Trappistine nuns who, in exchange, ask him to teach them the secrets of Sicilian pastry, only to betray him by handing him over to the Swiss Guards of the Vatican. During the transfer to prison, Farfallon, taking advantage of the distraction of the guards, manages to escape once again but, taking refuge in the refrigerated body of a meat truck, he ends up right in the middle transporting meat to the prison. On reaching his destination, he is welcomed by the Baron of Vistacorta, who was also transferred there. He immediately realizes the strange atmosphere that exists in prison, with a widespread permissiveness and even the union of the male and female sections. Nevertheless, the desire to escape to carry out his revenge against his Immaculate wife remains intact in him. So one night in a dream comes to him St. Peter who, after a negotiation on how Farfallon should later have repaid, reveals to him a secret passage from the penalty cell to a tunnel that opens onto the outside. Since it would have been unthinkable to be sent to a prison cell in such a prison, with the help of the Baron, he manages to be led to the place by the director with a ruse. The escape succeeds in half and, daringly, the Baron is also involved. Once out, however, they are immediately caught and taken to the Criminal Agricultural Colony, where there is a prison system opposite to the previous one, with a director who immediately sets the record straight with the new arrivals. The two therefore go through a period of hard work and various humiliations, culminating in a detention of eight years in a prison cell due to a simulated attempted rape by the director's wife and sister-in-law. Upon exiting the penalty cell, they are approached by a strange inmate named Leonardo, fascinated by the idea of reproducing the flight of birds for humans, who proposes to the two to test wings built by himself. Farfallon is the first to launch himself from the cliff and falls tumbling into the water, remaining miraculously unharmed, verifying, in fact, the failure of the invention; the Baron, consequently, prefers not to jump. In the credits we discover that Farfallon managed to swim to Sicily where he finally killed his wife and also the Baron's lover before being arrested again and taken back to prison where he spent the rest of his life in life imprisonment with the Baron.


Cast

* Franco Franchi as Farfallon * Ciccio Ingrassia as Barone di Vistacorta *
Fiorenzo Fiorentini Fiorenzo Fiorentini (10 April 1920 – 27 March 2003) was an Italian actor, author, composer, screenwriter and radio personality. Life and career Born in Rome, Fiorentini began his career as an author and radio actor, creating many successful ...
as Leonardo *
Gina Rovere Gina or GINA or ''variation'' may refer to: Gina Gina may refer to: * Gina (given name), multiple individuals * Gina (Canaan), a town in ancient Canaan * Arihant (Jainism), also called gina, a term for a human who has conquered his or her inner p ...
as Madre superiora * Micaela Pignatelli as Direttrice del carcere *
Mario Carotenuto Mario Carotenuto (30 June 1916 – 14 April 1995) was an Italian actor of film and theatre. Biography Carotenuto, the son of a silent film actor and younger brother of the actor Memmo Carotenuto, took various humble jobs for many years be ...
as Direttore della colonia penale agricola *
Nino Terzo Nino Terzo (22 May 1923 – 8 May 2005) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Palermo as Antonino Terzo, he worked intensively in the avanspettacolo and revue theater, entering the stage companies of Totò, Peppino De Filippo, Franco ...
as Guardia carceraria *
Linda Sini Linda Sini (13 February 1924 – 5 February 1999) was an Italian film actress. She made 75 appearances between 1950 and 1979 and several appearances after this, mostly in film. Debuting in '' Sigillo rosso'' in 1950, she went on to star in ...
as Figlia del colonnello * Enzo Andronico as Detenuto


References


External links

*
''Farfallon''
at Variety Distribution 1974 films 1970s parody films Commedia all'italiana Italian parody films Italian prison films Italian buddy comedy films 1970s buddy comedy films 1974 comedy films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-comedy-film-stub