folgore73

`C'era un cinese in coma' is the proof, if one was needed, that Carlo Verdone has lost his way. Verdone is a genius. But a genius lost. After making some of the funniest comedies in Italian cinema history, the Roman movie maker started to stray. His desire to depart the jovial and thoughtless comedies, in favour of more serious and thoughtful movies, was just too strong. He had to disappoint million of fans just to please a few movie critics. Anyway back to the movie. Overall is not too bad. One will laugh at the slapstick bits (I roared with laughter at scene were Verdone and his protégé are robbed by two female thieves) and yawn at the preposterous serious parts. Had the movie been made by an up and coming director, it would have been very nice indeed. But coming from Verdone is yet another major disappointment (after the disastrous `maledetto il giorno che ti ho incontrato and `perdiamoci di vista'). Why does he have to try and explore areas of film making that are so alien to his background? There are scenes of a sexual nature (sex in a Verdone movie!) which clearly are filmed in an embarrassed and clumsy manner. There are scenes of high drama that disastrously made me laugh more than the laughable bits. Beppe Fiorello is wooden to say the least. The young actor has the command of two (!) expressions, happy and unhappy. I understand that Verdone wanted to cash in on the success that Fiorello had had on Italian television just prior to the start of shooting. But a more vigorous direction would have been better for the movie and for the budding actor career. I was very disappointed by this movie and would only recommend it to somebody that has never seen Verdone at his best.

Fantozzi is such a lovely little movie. It narrates the antics of a lower class office worked employed by a faceless corporation. Paolo Villaggio used to work for a large international company and experienced the daily little humiliations and frustrations so often present in large offices. He used this experience to write a bitterly satirical book by the same title as the movie. Masked behind the funny stories of Fantozzi, there are the horrible realities of the daily work life of a humble worker. The movie is far less profound than the book. The slap-stick comedy is so good that everything else is forgotten. The attention to detail is impressive and can only be appreciated after a second or third vision of the movie. All the characters are very real and can be found in every day life. A must see for all those people that can see through the layer of basic comedy and find the bitter satire of a pointless life. Everybody else will enjoy the slap-stick bits. It can be considered as the granddad of modern classics such as `The Office'.

Is this movie Verdone's masterpiece? Many think so. I think the movie is a pivotal point in Carlo Verdone movie making career.Verdone makes a massive effort in trying to blend the character based style of many previous films with a new, more story based, kind. Verdone is tired of the old formula, but at the same time is not ready to make a movie that does not include strong life-like characters. The final result is a mixture of the old character based formula with a more story oriented one.The movie itself is rather good, but don't expect the side splitting scenes that made Verdone an household name. Expect more a sort of "Un sacco bello" meets "Borotalco".The Roman characters are still there, Angelo Finocchiaro the butcher is a master stroke, but so is the sadness of "Un sacco bello".Verdone character is an adult version of "Mimmo" from the early movies. But this time Mimmo has got a girlfriend; this is the bit that makes me think that Verdone is tired of acting the part of the unlucky sweet guy.The artist is torn between the sure and familiar style and a new more interesting one. But the new style is also very dangerous, will the public understand the change of direction? Will it follow the beloved Verdone even if the movies are not so funny anymore?. After this movie the great Roman actor/director/writer was to start making a new breed of movies where the characters are less prominent. Basically Verdone leaves Rome, and all its colorful but sometime heavy characters, for a more "international" background where new and less worn characters can develop. The results are a mixed bag. Some movies are good, some are very bad. But overall the bad ones will outweigh the nice ones. So much so that Verdone went back to the tried and tested character based formula with his latest productions. "Compagni di scuola" deserves to be seen.The movie can amuse almost anyone, but Verdone fans can really see the painful transformation of Verdone old style in the new one. A must see for fans, a good movie for anyone else.