Maccio Capatonda
Ahia, ma sei scemo?

We are in 2005 and the award-winning filmmaker Maccio Capatonda has just finished the sequel to "Febbra", "Febbra 2", which, despite critical acclaim, proved to be a flop at the box office.

In October, Maccio, now in an artistic crisis and after a temporary controversy with Herbert Ballerina over the distribution rights for "L'uomo che usciva la gente", begins to collaborate with the unknown Alejandro Jodorow... uhm, I meant Ramirez Inariditu, a pairing that would prove to be miraculous. In fact, "Ahia, ma sei scemo?" becomes the most-watched film of the year from the first week of screening, and it wasn't long before Maccio received the Golden Gol for best screenplay and Geeno (born Lueegi Del Pugno) as best newcomer actor. Soon, the film gains cult status, reinforced by the copious sales of the DVD edition.

A major success, then, but it would be wrong to think of "Ahia, ma sei scemo?" as a simple blockbuster. In a decade where the sports genre seemed to be in deep crisis (the fiasco of "Rocky e i Doni e i Doni della Morte" is, in this sense, the most fitting example) the Capatonda - Inariditu couple gives us a syncretic masterpiece that combines the styles of Fellini, Monicelli, Elio Petri, and even Wenders, accompanied by the intimate and reflective music of Mariottide and performed by exceptional actors like the indomitable Rupert Sciamenna and Katherine J. Junior.

The film tells the story of Pappo, a young delinquent from the suburbs who has "anger", helped by a boxing coach who is now at the pinnacle and bored with the sport (a deep metaphor for the situation in which Capatonda himself found himself at his meeting with Inariditu, at the time a talented newcomer) to get off the streets and bring out the hidden skills, but well hidden. The acquisition of an increasingly refined boxing technique will inevitably be joined with the spiritual growth of Pappo himself, until he learns the invincible Side Punch, a move invented by zen monks and based on the change of perspective (a concept both immanent and transcendent, which Capatonda will pick up again in "L'Ispettore Catiponda") in delivering the fatal blow.

But Pappo's path is not easy: he will have to face the hostility of match organizers, his mother, and even people he meets on the street. But above all, he will have to face himself. This is the keystone of the entire film, the profound message that Maccio, a keen observer of the human soul, wants to convey. The ending, imbued with rare poetry, sees the protagonist crushed by the machinery of deception and illusion, yet still a moral victor in the face of life.

How many wonderful scenes could be cited: Pappo shouting "I am a pugilist" on the street, the ring turned into a small bar during a dreamlike sequence (I must emphasize the Dadaist direction, never before so perfectly matched to the screenplay) and many others. However, it's better to leave such a masterpiece of world cinema to the curiosity of the viewer. Enjoy the show everyone.