Buongiorno, student of Italian!
This is just to let you know that we have a new ebook easy-reader in our ‘Book of the Classic Italian Movie‘ series.
This time it’s a comedy, the 1975 classic, Fantozzi.
These short summaries of some of the jewels of Italian cinema have been prepared for you by an Italian-teacher colleague, Giovanni Galavotti.
But Giovanni is not ‘just’ an Italian teacher. He’s also a scriptwriter, and one who has been nominated for an important award!
So of course, Giovanni has a passion for cinema. Revisiting his favourite classic movies is no hardship for him.
He’ll select a film, then watch it over and over again while making notes so he can later summarise the action and dialogues in eight or nine short, simplified chapters.
Giovanni’s ebook versions of these classics of Italian cinema are an excellent support to anyone wanting to watch the actual movies (but read our ebooks first!)
Or they could stand alone from the films, as orginal and useful study materials which would be an ideal supplement to a more traditional Italian course.
So far, Giovanni has done twelve classic movies for us. They range in difficulty from A2 (pre-intermediate) to B2 (upper-intermediate).
There are free sample chapters for all of them. Find and download them easily on our catalogue page (or you could just browse.)
But back to Fantozzi.
I’d heard of the film, of course. EVERY Italian knows Fantozzi, and you can’t live in Italy without coming across references to him.
But until Giovanni sent me his simplified version, I’d assumed it wouldn’t be my sort of thing. I admit, I’ll generally avoid comedies (and Italian movies) if I can…
The story, though, had me laughing out loud. When I’d finished it, I searched online for the movie itself, and watched it several times!!
What’s the film about? Here’s the description from our online shop:
Ragionier Fantozzi, Ugo is an Italian everyman, though not a very happy one!
Ugo is ambivalent, to say the least, about his job and his family. He dares to hope for more from both his professional and personal lives, though never seems surprised when his ambitions are thwarted!
The 1971 book was a million-seller. And mention the 1975 film, on which our ‘easy reader’ is based, to any Italian to get them happily talking you through their favourite scenes.
For a rather different insight into Italian life and attitudes, don’t miss the unforgettable cultural meme that is Fantozzi!
Sounds fun? Then download the free sample chapter (.pdf) to check the format and level of the material.
Liked that? Fantozzi is 25% off the usual ebook easy-reader price this week, at just £5.99.
The offer is good until Sunday night.
But if it was too hard for you, or too easy?
No worries! Go browse the Italian section of our online shop, where’ll you surely find something more suited to your level.
Or pick study materials from our catalogue page, which lists everything by type and in level-order.
Buono studio, allora.
E buon divertimento!
FREE sample chapter | ‘Fantozzi’ ebook, just £5.99 | Classic movie ebooks | All Italian ebooks | Catalogue