Sttasera, airs on Rai 3 at 21.25 on documentary film Alberto Tomba – Winning uphill, dedicated to the former ski champion 25 years after his retirement. But, thinking back to Alberto Tomba on the screens (sports performances aside) the unforgettable cannot be ignored Alex the Aries. Masterpiece film of Italian trash released in 2000, and super flop at the box office, where the champion is unlikely to star together with an equally improbable Michelle Hunziker.
Alex the Aries: a great director for a banal plot
The film promised well: the direction is by Damiano Damianidetective specialist, director of the excellent The day of the owl (based on the novel by Leonardo Sciascia) and author of the TV series The octopus. The screenplay is by Dardano Sacchetti, another great signature of detective stories: it was he who invented Er Monnezza, the policeman played by Tomas Milian.
Lhe story is banal and hackneyed: Alex/Tomba is Alessandro Corso a carabiniere nicknamed the Ram for his physical presence and vehemence, who is transferred to a small town in the Apennines precisely because of his excesses. He is assigned a mission: he has to escort the eyewitness of a crime, Antavleva Bottazzi, to court (Antavleva in Romagna means I didn’t want you), a Michelle Hunziker then wife of Eros Ramazzotti. An adventure begins, during which the two have to escape from the henchmen of the “Big Pig” and from almost enemies they predictably end up falling in love.
Alberto Tomba and Michelle Hunziker in “Alex l’Ariete”.
Alberto Tomba and Michelle Hunziker, rejected actors
To drag the film into the abyss of the worst Italian titles is also the bad performance of the actors. Alberto Tomba keeps the same expression from the beginning to the end of the film, double himself with embarrassing effect. In one scene we see him reading (very badly) the script, a fake police report. In the Rambo-style action scenes he seems to howl, while the final scene is amusing from how absurd it is (after all, like the whole film).
Michelle Hunziker behaves a little better, but she seems to be inside a photo novel. Here you can see the best (or worst) scenes of the movie while here you can see it all.
Alberto Tomba and Michelle Hunziker in “Alex l’Ariete”.
From the idea of fiction to the total slam
The film, shot two years after the champion’s withdrawal, was meant to be a drama in two episodes for Mediaset, to capitalize on Tomba’s wave of popularity. The character lent itself, due to his improbable character and lexicon (someone will remember the hilarious imitation of the skier by Gioele Dix in Mai dire Gol). Then, we don’t know why, a film produced by Vittorio Cecchi Gori and Rita Rusic folded.
The film was severely panned by critics and snubbed by the public. In its first weekend in theaters it grossed 3,693,000 lire, it lasted in theaters for a few days, totaling less than 600 spectators. Incredible but true: it seems that a sequel to the film Alex’s race was planned with a handover: instead of Alberto Tomba, in the role of Alessandro Corso, we could have seen Valentino Rossi. It is not known why but the film was never made.
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