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Paolo Villaggio

30 quotes

“When there are two Italians, they confide secrets to each other; three make philosophical observations; four play cards; five play poker; six talk about soccer; seven found a party in which they all secretly aspire to the presidency; eight form a mountain choir.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[If you had the extraordinary—and also terrible—power to rule a country for a moment, to do whatever you wanted, what would you give its citizens first?] The question is a somewhat utopian one, and therefore the answer can only be utopian. Something that humanity will hardly achieve, perhaps at the end of its evolution: equality.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There were two very beautiful blond children, the children of rich people: all the children of rich people are blond and look alike, while the children of Calabrian farm laborers are dark-skinned and look different from each other.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With Fantozzi, I tried to recount the adventure of those who live in that part of life that everyone (except the children of the powerful) goes through or has gone through: the moment when you are under someone else's thumb. Many come out of it with honor, many went through it at twenty, others at thirty, many remain there forever, and they are the majority. Fantozzi is one of them.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But it is not a book about [Fantozzi] at all, it is just a collection of Fantozzi stories that I wrote for L'Europeo, with a few extra semicolons, jotted down at random. Writing will never be my job, it's something I do for fun.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Did I say that the Pope (John Paul II) doesn't believe in God?[14] I really think so. Come on. The Pope is too intelligent a person to believe in God.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fantozzi is also a therapist: he freed Italians from the fear of being Italian.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“TV is more dangerous because it is transparent: it magnifies flaws.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Silvio Berlusconi) He told me I'm a great comedian. I'm very grateful to him for that and for losing the last election.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I realize that for the general public, Reder had become Filini, but we must remember that his career went far beyond Filini. He was an extraordinary actor, invaluable to many great directors.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't like Eduardo. I'm with Peppino. And even if Eduardo remains one of the few Italian authors, along with Pirandello, Goldoni, and Fo, to be performed abroad, who knows what the future holds. Perhaps posterity will appreciate Pappagone's extraordinary tirades more than Eduardo's serious, boring, and pretentious ones. A virtue for our Catholic and falsely committed country.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Peppino was not born just to make people laugh. Those in the extra category like him can do anything. It is no coincidence that he played Molière, Machiavelli, and Pinter. Eduardo, on the other hand, only played himself.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Vittorio Gassman) Totò and Sordi were the funniest, Mastroianni the most charming, but Vittorio was the most complete: a great man of theater, cinema, and literature. He was a prince, far removed from the charlatanism of our milieu. His presence was enjoyable for his culture, his entertainment, and the honesty with which he approached every subject.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am enraged by this tendency, which exists above all in Italy, perhaps because of its Catholic roots, to recognize the merits of artists only after their death. As if death ennobled them.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fantozzi at that time was a happy wretch; at least he had a steady job.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Comic behavior is childish behavior, which means that all comedians are children, immature. Stan Laurel is a child, he cries all the time [...], Jerry Lewis was a silly child, Totò never really touched a woman, Sordi the same. [...] Childish behavior, I would say, brings to light, in a sudden, unexpected way, the happiest period of life: childhood, which provokes a great emotion of happiness and therefore laughter. All great comedians have always moved and behaved immaturely, like children.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Cécile Kyenge) He's not very charming. Absolutely not. Also because he speaks Italian... and he doesn't even have an Italian passport. [...] [The appointment to the Ministry of Integration is] Superfluous. It was very theatrical. [...] [Appointing a black minister] It's superfluous; all in all, it doesn't solve the problem [of integration].”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our culture has not yet accepted an inferior culture such as that which comes from Africa. It is not skin color, it is cultural difference. Undoubtedly, it cannot be compared to the great European culture. [...] We do-gooders, we Europeans, we priests, we saints... we have all always pretended to be better than we really are. [...] Relations with black people today, except perhaps with Obama, are still marked by a slight hypocrisy.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fantozzi is the prototype of the poor wretch, the quintessence of nothingness.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I spent my childhood and youth with Fabrizio De André, then twenty years with Gassman, another twenty with Tognazzi, then Ferreri, Volonté, Fellini... In short... I only talk ‘about’ someone, not ‘with’ someone... oh well!”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[After winning the 1990-1991 championship] I don't believe in God, but now I believe in Sampdoria.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Roberto Benigni He is always over the top, a euphoric clown. Only when he talks about money with his wife does he become very serious. His voice and face change. The farmer in him comes out. Benigni is a great man, even if he leaves nothing written.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fantozzi no longer dresses like he did in the 1960s; baggy pants and boxer shorts, an incredible wife, an unimaginable daughter. Fantozzi had a different vibe back then. The name itself, Fantozzi, sounded like “fantocci” (puppets). All of that is gone now.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The audience that goes to see Vasco Rossi is made up of young Fantozzis: frayed sweaters, military boots, the same Martini sports glasses, the same imitation watches.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Benigni appeals to Fantozzis precisely because he is easy to understand, very comforting, a bit Chaplinesque.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At my age, you're afraid of discoveries. A discovery would force you to change your frame of reference.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(About Achille Campanile) He was my idol. But he was just surreal. He couldn't do social satire because the regime wouldn't let him. So he came up with ingenious solutions.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At the beginning of spring, we used to go to Sampierdarena, a suburb of Genoa that is still one of the most atrocious things I have ever seen, of a terrible, repugnant atrocity. I acted as a guide and we were all equipped with fake tourist guides. [He stands up and begins to tell the story, using gestures to help him.] We started out like tourists. ‘What you see here [raising his voice] is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the world!’ [laughs] When a few people had gathered, intrigued to say the least, we began to say, 'How wonderful! How beautiful! Come, come here, look how well you can see' [laughs]. And then Fabrizio or someone else in our group would say, 'Look, apparently, it looks like shit [laughs]. But this is one of the most repulsive places on the face of the earth!”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One day we were at the Ritz in Madrid, in a suite. Moana went to the bathroom and came back wearing only her underwear. She looked at me and said, ‘I will never make love to you. I love you very much. I am HIV positive.’ It was a sentence that struck me deeply. I hugged her and she was moved. [...] The most curious thing about Moana Pozzi was that she hated sex. [...] She was completely frigid. It's quite sad: she did a job that she actually hated. Her frigidity led her to do this job with a certain anger, she did it with little joy. Honestly, she didn't understand what was the right path to happiness. For her, born in a poor neighborhood, it was about making money any way she could, even at the risk of unhappiness.”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Young people have a habit right now of saying that you are unhappy, that you are afraid of the future, that this or that is to blame... and you blame our generation above all, the thieves, the politicians... no, that's not true, you are also to blame, believe me. My generation! When the war ended, the country was completely destroyed, there were no roads, no highways, no bridges, no hospitals, there was nothing, there were only churches. After a horrific tragedy like the war, there was nothing left, nothing, nothing! In fifteen years, we in Italy became the fourth most industrialized country on Earth. In just fifteen years! Oooh! So I beg you, guys, it's your fault. This constant complaining! I'm starting to think that we're happier as old people than you are as young people. Think about it, it's incredible!”
Paolo Villaggio (1932–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source