47 years after ‘The Second Tragic Fantozzi’, the memory in the street where one of the iconic scenes of Italian cinema was filmed
Italian cinema is full of historical phrases linked to the world of football. But there is one that everyone really knows: “Excuse me, who made a fuss?!”. Are you already laughing? It’s normal. It’s 1976 and cinemas all over Italy are screening The second tragic Fantozzi. Today in Rome, in the Prati district, a writing on the wall on the corner between via di Monte Zebio and piazza del Fante celebrates the sketch from 47 years ago and perfectly identifies the place where Paolo Villaggio decided to shoot the scene. For those few who don’t know, let’s briefly tell the story. 8.25pm. It’s the evening of England-Italy, “valid for qualification for the World Cup”. Fantozzi, as a good football fan, had organized the perfect evening with omelette, cold beer and free burp. Obviously everything goes wrong and the call from his friend Filini arrives.
Doctor Ricciarelli, a cinephile manager accustomed to imposing unsustainable screenings of endless pre-war silent films on his employees, decides to subject his “inferiors” to the sight of a “Czechoslovakian film with “German subtitles”. Fantozzi he obeys and walks in a Rome connected in stereo to Wembley. In the car the radio gets a bad signal and so we follow the accountant to Via di Monte Zebio. Handbrake, climbing the walls of the Prati district, punching the window and then the question: “Excuse me, who made a stand?!”. The response is a punch in the face and the equally iconic one “impressed by McKinley”. Today, 47 years later, anyone who passes through those parts will leave a smile. Actually, a big laugh. Even if someone is already complaining about alleged vandalism.
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October 19 – 5.58pm
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