''Hot Potato'' ( it, La patata bollente) is a

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Commedia all'italiana Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mar ...

film directed by Steno. The film discusses a range of issues such as homophobia in the

political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, ''

Anni di piombo , partof = the Cold War , image = Stragedibologna-2.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = Aftermath of the bombing at the Bologna railway station in August 1980 which killed 85 people, the deadliest ev ...

'' violence,

working class culture Working-class culture is a range of cultures created by or popular among working-class people. The cultures can be contrasted with high culture and folk culture, and are often equated with popular culture and low culture (the counterpart of high ...

, and the sustainability of

Eurocommunism Eurocommunism, also referred to as democratic communism or neocommunism, was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more rel ...

Plot

Bernardo Mambelli nicknamed "il Gandi" (

Renato Pozzetto Renato Pozzetto (born 14 July 1940) is an Italian actor, director, comedian, and singer. Biography Pozzetto was born into a working-class family from Milan and grew up in the town of Gemonio (in the Province of Varese). After graduation, he made ...

) is a PCI militant and

pugilist Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

working at a

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese paint factory. One night, he sees a fascist gang beating a frail young man (

Massimo Ranieri Massimo Ranieri (born Giovanni Calone on 3 May 1951) is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Naples ( at Santa Lucia), the fifth of eight children in the family. When he was 10, y ...

). He saves the man and brings him to his house to learn that he is Claudio, a homosexual. With nowhere to go and recovering from the assault, Claudio starts staying at Bernardo's house but a series of typical misunderstandings lead his comrades as well as his girlfriend Maria (

Edwige Fenech Edwige Fenech (, ; born 24 December 1948) is an Algerian-born Maltese-Sicilian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of ''commedia sexy all'italiana'' and ''giallo'' films released in the 1970s, which turned her ...

) to believing that he has "turned gay". Bernardo is now seen as a potential lost cause and the ongoings soon reveal a "hot potato" situation for him.

Cast

as Bernardo Mambelli nicknamed "il Gandi" *

as Claudio *

as Maria *

Mario Scarpetta is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

as Walter *

Clara Colosimo Clara Colosimo (23 May 1922 – 15 June 1994) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 65 films between 1968 and 1991. Selected filmography * ''Alfredo, Alfredo'' (1972) * '' Sex Pot'' (1975) * '' Il mostro'' (1977) * '' Zanna Bianca e ...

as Elvira, the doorwoman *

Luca Sportelli Luca Sportelli (11 March 1927 - 29 August 1999) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than one hundred films from 1964 to 1991. Selected filmography References External links * 1927 births 1999 deaths Italian male film actors< ...

as Elvira's husband * Sergio Ciulli as Maravigli *

Adriana Russo Adriana Russo (born 4 February 1954) is an Italian actress and television personality. Life and career Born in Rome, Russo started acting at the university, then she joined the stage company "Teatro insieme Emilia Romagna". In the second half ...

as Maria's best friend *

Umberto Raho Umberto Raho (4 June 1922 – 9 January 2016) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Bari, the son of an Italian father and a Bulgarian mother, Raho graduated in philosophy and then, immediately after the w ...

as the doctor *

Ennio Antonelli Ennio Antonelli (born 18 November 1936) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and retired President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Early life and ordination Born in Todi, he first attended seminary there, and then in Ass ...

as laborer

References

External links

* 1979 films Italian LGBT-related films Films directed by Stefano Vanzina Commedia all'italiana 1979 comedy films Italian satirical films Films set in Milan Italian political satire films LGBT-related comedy films 1979 LGBT-related films Working-class culture 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links