''Un sacco bello'', internationally released as ''Fun Is Beautiful'', is a 1980 Italian

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 o ...

. The film, produced by

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cine ...

, marked the directorial debut of

Carlo Verdone Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. Verdone is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first thre ...

, as well his debut as main actor and as screenwriter. For this film Verdone won a special

David di Donatello Awards The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's '' David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the '' Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award ...

and the

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italian ...

for best new actor.

Plot

plays three roles in three episodes joined together. In the first, the Roman hick Enzo organizes a trip to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

for

Ferragosto Ferragosto is a public holiday celebrated on August 15th in all of Italy. It originates from Feriae Augusti, the festival of emperor Augustus, who made the 1st of August a day of rest after weeks of hard work on the agricultural sector. It becam ...

, hoping to ingratiate himself with the sexual favors of some beautiful Polish girl with the help of a generous supply of

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...

stocking Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transpare ...

s (in those years considered a luxury commodity in countries behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

). In the second episode, the post-

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

Ruggero by some days in his native Rome, while at the traffic light distributing leaflets and asking for an offer of money for a new

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

that his group is forming in Citta della Pieve, meets his father (

Mario Brega is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

) by chance, in the middle of traffic. His father believes that the guy has psychological problems, and so he asks the help of a priest, a teacher and a very problematic nephew. Mr. Mario then is going to change the mentality of the guy with the help of these wise people, in the hope that Ruggero and his girlfriend (who is also a

flower child Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially among the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and the surrounding area during the Summer of Love in 1967. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute ...

) find themselves the right way to live in a modern society. Finally the shy and awkward Leo find the love in a Spanish girl, but she gives him a lot of problems. In fact she is not alone and intends to recover an affair with her ex.

Cast

: Enzo/ Ruggero/ Leo/ Don Alfio/ Anselmo/ professor *

: Mario *

Renato Scarpa Renato Scarpa (14 September 1939 – 30 December 2021) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 85 films from 1969 to 2019. Scarpa died on 30 December 2021, at the age of 82. Selected filmography * ''St. Michael Had a Rooster'' (1972) * '' ...

: Sergio * Veronica Miriel: Marisol *

Isabella De Bernardi Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

: Fiorenza *

Sandro Ghiani Sandro Ghiani (born 12 August 1952) is an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Carbonia, Sardinia, the son of a postal clerk, Ghiani studied in a seminary, the Institute of Don Orione in Tortona in Piedmont, where, ...

: Cristiano

References

External links

* 1980 films Italian comedy films Films directed by Carlo Verdone 1980 comedy films Films scored by Ennio Morricone Sergio Leone 1980 directorial debut films 1980s Italian-language films 1980s Italian films {{1980s-Italy-comedy-film-stub