Fantozzi (film)

Fantozzi
Original theatrical release poster
Directed byLuciano Salce
Written byPaolo Villaggio
Leo Benvenuti
Piero De Bernardi
Luciano Salce
Produced byGiovanni Bertolucci
StarringPaolo Villaggio
Gigi Reder
Liù Bosisio
Anna Mazzamauro
Narrated byPaolo Villaggio
CinematographyErico Menczer
Edited byAmedeo Salfa
Music byFabio Frizzi
Distributed byCineriz
Release date
  • 1975 (1975)
Running time
103 minutes
  • 98 minutes (cut edition)
LanguageItalian

Fantozzi is a 1975 Italian satirical cult film, based on 1971 novel of the same name [it] in the saga of the unlucky Italian accountant employee Ugo Fantozzi, written and played by his creator Paolo Villaggio.

The film is a parody of middle class workers of the 1970s, unhappy and frustrated at work and with family, and is known for its use of surreal humor and for several scenes which have entered popular culture.

The success of this movie rendered it a cult film that topped IT box office on sales for eight months. In the decades since its release, the film's reputation has remained almost unmutated, launching Paolo Villaggio's career. Its success led to a franchise of nine sequels, from 1976 to 1999.

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[1]

  1. ^ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2021-03-11.