Bernardo Mambelli nicknamed "il Gandi" is a PCI militant and pugilist working at a Milanese paint factory. One night, he sees a fascist gang beating a frail young man. 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 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.
The film was initially conceived as a segment of a two-part film titled "Fa male mischiare" (lit.'Mixing Hurts ') directed by Nanni Loy; the two segments were eventually developed into full-length films, the other of them becoming Loy's Café Express.[2]
Reception
Author Sergio Rigoletto wrote that it "was a film grounded in a changing political climate that revealed a considerable shift of attitudes within the Italian Left, with the Communist Party finally showing a willingness to engage in a dialogue with homosexual activist groups."[3] Andrea Sangiovanni argues that "despite its sex comedy title, it was in fact the story of the identity crisis of a metalworker due to a chance encounter with a young homosexual man."[4]
Casa del Cinema opined it is "the first Italian comedy film entirely built on a gay situation with any substance and credibility; Giorgio Arlorio intended it to be a slightly more serious film than it turned out, but it's still quite entertaining; Steno doesn't push the situation to its extremes, it's not the right time yet, but seeing the average worker's reactions to diversity isn't bad."[5]The Tribune and the Niagara Falls Review gave it a rating of 2½ stars out of 5.[6][7]
↑ Sangiovanni, Andrea (May 2024). "Imaginary Work: Media Representations of Work and Gender in Italy From the Economic Miracle to the Present Day". Modern Italy. 29 (2): 197–217. doi:10.1017/mit.2024.6.
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