''The President of Borgorosso Football Club'' (Italian: ''Il presidente del Borgorosso Football Club'') is a 1970 Italian

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Luigi Filippo D'Amico Luigi Filippo D'Amico (9 October 1924 – 28 April 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His 1974 film ''Il domestico'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Sele ...

and starring

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter. Early life Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...

Tina Lattanzi Tina Lattanzi (born Annunziata Concetta Costantini; 5 December 1897 – 25 October 1997) was an Italian actress and voice actress. Biography A native of Licenza and the daughter of Ercole Costantini and Geltrude Montori, Lattanzi began her actin ...

and

Margarita Lozano Margarita de las Flores Lozano Jiménez (14 February 1931 – 7 February 2022) was a Spanish actress known for her career in Italian films. She worked for Luis Buñuel in ''Viridiana'', Sergio Leone in ''A Fistful of Dollars'', Pier Paolo Paso ...

.Fava p.226-27 The film was mostly shot in the

Province of Ravenna The province of Ravenna ( it, provincia di Ravenna; ) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ravenna. As of 2015, it has a population of 391,997 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density ...

, using football stadiums in

Bagnacavallo Bagnacavallo ( rgn, Bagnacavàl) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The Renaissance painter Bartolomeo Ramenghi bore the nickname of his native city. Main sights *''Castellaccio'' (15th century) * Giardi ...

and

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...

as well as the home of

Molinella Calcio 1911 U.S. Reno Molinella 1911 is an Italian association football club located in Molinella, Emilia-Romagna. It currently plays in Prima Categoria. Its colors are red and blue. The club was founded in 1911 and spend the 1939–40 season in Serie B ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Umberto Turco.

Synopsis

After inheriting a small-town

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

from his long-estranged father,

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

official Benito Fornaciari shows little interest despite the club being promoted shortly afterwards. However, after selling several top players provokes a riot in the town, he has a damascene conversion and begins to plough huge amounts of money in the club and hires a supposedly brilliant

Peruvian Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century; Peruvian p ...

coach. When he proves to be inept and the club loses several games at the start of the new season, Fornaciari himself takes over control of the team from the bench. This leads to a dramatic surge in form as the club win match after match, with Fornaciari rallying the fans in a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

manner. He takes this too far during a

local derby Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, provoking a

pitch invasion A pitch invasion (known in North America as field storming or rushing the field) occurs when a person or a crowd of people spectating a sporting event run onto the competition area, usually to celebrate or protest an incident, or sometimes as ...

and major damage to a rival team's stadium. The ensuing trouble, including a fine and a points deduction, leads a rival consortium to try and oust Fornaciari as President. However, he counters by signing

Omar Sívori Enrique Omar Sívori (, ; 2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Italian-Argentine football player and manager who played as a forward. At club level, he is known for his successful time with Italian side Juventus during the late 1950s and ...

for Borgorosso and is acclaimed by the supporters once more. The film ends with Fornaciari leading a convoy of the team and their supporters to an away game, in exactly the same style his father had done at the beginning. The film is known to the Italian public for the sheer amount of stereotypes that depict the Italian society of the 1970s. Examples of this include the fraud Italian-Peruvian manager, who puts on a fake South American accent to fool the president, and the overwhelming presence of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, represented by the priest who rushes the weekly mass to make sure he can attend the match.

Cast

References

Bibliography

* Claudio G. Fava. ''Alberto Sordi''. Gremese Editore, 2003.

External links

* 1970 films Italian sports comedy films 1970s sports comedy films Italian association football films 1970s Italian-language films Films directed by Luigi Filippo D'Amico Films set in Rome 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub