Fantozzi

This is the first movie of the long Fantozzi-series. And as it often happens all the follow-ups were never as good as the original. This movie is based on a book written by Paolo Villaggio himself (Fantozzi, main character in the movie). You can define it as the first movie of a new italian comedian style. It was the break-point of Villaggio's actor-career. Today he's one of the most famous italian comedians, a lot of people know Villaggio but everybody knows Fantozzi. The success of this movie is probably based on the fact that everybody can identify with Fantozzi. He's a normal worker, has a happy family an awful-looking daughter, some friends and he is into Signorina Silvani who works with him. You can compare Fantozzi to Al Bundy. Nothing works like he wants but at the end everything is alright. I don't know if the Fantozzi-movies have been translated to English, but if you have the chance to watch one of them don't miss it!!

Fantozzi is the first step in a long journey of movie that spanned over almost 3 decades. While the more and more the journey proceed, the authors seems to lose a the inspiration and the grip over the story and the peace of the comedy, the first two movies in this installment are a true masterpiece for the Italian culture. As a guy born in Italy in the early 80' I can understand the background and how this movie was somehow a portrait (of course exasperated) of a certain corporate mentality made of cowardice toward the powers and servile attitudes. All the ridiculous adventure of Mr Fantozzi are indeed a description of a desperate and unsuccessful attempt of a middle class man to rise in the society. There is more than it can be written about the Fantozzi series but something has to be said in advance: I can understand if a for a non-Italian this comedy might not be look particularly fun. It is indeed an Italian phenomenon, hard to explain if you have not the right background. I think also that to really appreciate this movie you should be fluent in Italian because most of the fun is lost in translation.

Ugo Fantozzi, a middle-aged accountant, lives in a poorly furnished apartment with an unloved wife and an ugly daughter. His life is full of failures and disappointments, misfortunes pour down on him like a bucket. However, Fantozzi is not without self-irony and self-esteem.

Fantozzi is a literary character created by Paolo Villaggio who stars in this film and in all the rest of this franchise. The filmic version of Fantozzi has a much less heavy satire but still very sharp and very enjoyable. Fantozzi is a classic of the Italian Comedy. The first Fantozzi is without any argument the best of the whole franchise.

The Fantozzi saga in Italy is something you can not do without. A lot of quotes are common use in everyday life of people. Paolo Villaggio, who is the author of the original books of Fantozzi, is also the perfect cast for the part, but also all the other characters are outstanding representations of the real life working environment (I personally enjoy very much "Geometra Calboni" interpreted by Giuseppe Anatrelli).

I happened to think, and more then once, that these movies are not to be lost, they are a portrait of Italian life in the 70s and they are an example on how you can laugh (and laugh loud!) with a very low level (especially in the first and second episodes) of vulgarity. I'll take for me VHS or DVD collection to show them to my children's, with the hope that their generation will enjoy them as much as mine.