Fantozzi: White Collar Blues

Fantozzi: White Collar Blues (1975) is the Italian comedy from Luciano Salce you can watch online on iFILM. Ugo Fantozzi is a lowly accountant the entire universe seems to pick on, from his bosses down to the office elevators.

For thirty years he rides the same crowded bus to the same desk, never once gets a raise, and is so invisible that when he's accidentally sealed inside a disused lift shaft, nobody notices for seventeen days. Colleagues can't remember his name, he pines hopelessly after the unattainable Signorina Silvani, and every staff outing, sushi dinner or New Year's party curdles into spectacular disaster. Paolo Villaggio plays him with the sad precision of a great clown.

The character grew out of Villaggio's own comic short stories, spawned a long-running franchise, and even pushed the adjective "Fantozziano" into everyday Italian as shorthand for hopeless bad luck. This is the bitter, absurd comedy of a little man crushed by a soulless company, perfect if you have a taste for vintage European satire. Stream Fantozzi (1975) online on iFILM.