Sergio Martino
L'allenatore nel pallone

This is one of the best comedies ever made in Italy. It proves that you can make intelligent cinema without being Charlie Chaplin, and that people like Claudio Amendola or Cristian De Sica will never manage to match, lost in their silly gags with mobile phones. "L'allenatore nel pallone" is a masterpiece, a sparkling satire on the world of Italian football, on its rampant corruption, which, as recently demonstrated by calciopoli, will never be eradicated, but also and above all the passions that this sport arouses in our magnificent country. You all know the story, unless you've been living on the Moon until yesterday. The magnificent Oronzo Canà is the coach of Longobarda, newly promoted to Serie A. Despite adversities, an average team, a hostile President, the great Canà - played by the incredible Lino Banfi - will manage to save the team, thanks in particular to the plays of the magnificent Aristoteles, a parody of the famous Socrates of the time. The beautiful thing about the film is that it mirrors the quirks of the football world of the early 80s: the inflated transfer market, match-fixing, sycophant journalists, rowdy and violent fans, delirium for the stars of the era, from Platini to Cabrini in a completely humorous way, but putting the great passions this sport arouses at the forefront.

The main attraction of the film is obviously the great Banfi, with his extraordinary jokes, especially when he mocks the protagonists of the football circus, amusingly appearing in cameos, from Biscardi to Galeazzi. Unforgettable is the final scene, in which the President announces his dismissal for having betrayed the match-fixing plan "You are unemployed, you know?" with Banfi taking revenge by saying what everyone knew: "You are a cuckold, you know?"
Sublime: in 30 years, this film will be considered even better.