gbrunoro

but this is exactly what I was talking about: Fantozzi is not "just" a comedy, and that’s where all its strength lies. If you look at the comedic side, it’s likely that Totò is more effective (then you get into the discussion of personal tastes), but I’m making a broader argument. And then, I repeat, enough with pitting this against that... we are discussing something different here (at least as far as I’m concerned). If you want to say that Woody Allen is better than the Marx Brothers, or that Buster Keaton is better than Totò, or that Franco Franchi is better than Villaggio, feel free, just know that discussions of this kind do not interest me...

In my opinion, it’s not about ranking or comparisons, because many things vary with personal tastes and the criteria differ among comedians from each generation. The fact is that Villaggio is "also" a comedian, and not just that. The same naturally applies to Totò, because in the end, all comedians represent their society; it’s just that in the case of the Neapolitan comedian, the ars comica clearly prevails over everything else. And this is by no means intended as a criticism. What is surprising is that in Italy, any discussion tends to be framed in terms of "this against that," "right against wrong," "right against left"... If this happens here, in a place that's meant for goofing around with friends, we shouldn’t be surprised by the nonsense that our politicians say and do...

Villaggio is a true giant of Italian culture, not just in cinema. We have yet to realize how much he has managed to influence the LANGUAGE of Italians. His characters are alive, real, and we can encounter them every day. Those who haven’t noticed these things have likely stopped at the cinematic level of the first 4 Fantozzi films (yes, the first 4: I know that by the middle of the third everything flounders, but the first 4 remain milestones of our cinema). It will probably still take a few more years before Villaggio's work is fully understood, just as happened with Totò, who in life was regarded by almost everyone as just a simple comedic fool, much like Boldi could be seen today (go check the reviews from that time…). And anyway, with the enormous job precarity we face today, Villaggio's social criticism has resurfaced in all its dreadful relevance. Open your eyes...

I even got it on DVD thinking it was some kind of masterpiece. I couldn't watch it all; it's just so messed up and devoid of any logic. Honestly, my first impression is that it's a crazy load of crap, but maybe I'm wrong. Who knows...

waste of time. and anyway it's "scream form me" (or at most "scrim fo mi") and not "sing"...

the reviewer (and the review) is a fake, the album is a bomb.

The last gasp of the terrible old men? Perhaps. Here is the rich and fat Empire trying to desperately react to the barbarian invasions...

Masterpiece, and finally someone has noticed, a film much tougher than it seems.

a splendid fresco of a modern neo-anabasis: the same anxiety of return, the same despair, the same nothingness to greet our heroes, the same poetry. a masterpiece.

movies to memorize between the ages of 16 and 24...