Il ricco, il povero e il maggiordomo (2014)

Dr. Giacomo Maria Poretti is a wealthy broker from Milan who has embarked on a major, risky investment in Burgundi, an (in fact, fictional) African country marked by considerable political instability. One May afternoon, on his way home from work, he runs over Aldo with his Maserati Ghibli, accompanied by his butler and driver Giovanni. Aldo is an unlicensed street vendor fleeing the police; when they had come upon the stalls, the doctor had ordered Giovanni to turn right even though it was prohibited. The two men take Aldo to Giacomo’s villa and, to avoid legal action, agree to pay him 1,000 euros in compensation, to be collected the following day. Aldo, who is desired by several women, then returns to his widowed mother, Calcedonia, who, as usual, scolds him for never having done anything useful with his life. Meanwhile, Dolores, another of Giacomo’s Venezuelan housekeepers and Giovanni’s partner, persuades Giovanni to marry her. The next day, Aldo—who in his free time also coaches the multicultural, perennially losing five-a-side team of boys from Father Amerigo’s parish youth club—returns to Giacomo’s villa to collect the agreed sum. The broker reduces it, however, and, to make matters worse, forces Aldo to earn it by doing various household chores. Shortly afterward, though, Giacomo learns from the news that a military coup has taken place in Burgundi, followed by a financial default, and his investment has consequently ended in complete failure, leaving him with virtually nothing. This includes Giovanni’s nest egg, which the butler had entrusted to him until his retirement and was counting on to pay for his wedding. Furious with Giovanni, Dolores decides to return to Venezuela, while Giovanni and Giacomo end up on the street. Giacomo’s bank manager, Assia, says she is interested in the financing proposal he presents to her, but asks for two weeks to think it over. Aldo therefore decides to let Giovanni and Giacomo stay at his mother’s house, and she reluctantly agrees. Giovanni and Giacomo discover that Aldo is a sleepwalker and that his fiancée, Angelica, left him at the altar. The effects of that experience surface in his sleepwalking, and he always keeps his distance from the women who court him. Aldo has therefore failed to achieve the only two things he truly wanted in life: getting married and setting up a properly licensed street stall. Searching for a solution to all their problems, Giovanni and Giacomo discover that Aldo does a fairly good imitation of the typical Turkish way of speaking—he says he had a Turkish great-grandfather—so they decide to disguise him as a wealthy Azerbaijani oil tycoon Giacomo once met, a certain Samir Uzmin, and introduce him to Assia as that man to convince her that Giacomo’s proposed deal has solid financial backing. In the meantime, Giacomo goes to his in-laws’ villa in France for his son’s birthday, where his wife gives him a week to sort things out and get their house, company, and car back; otherwise, she will ask for a divorce. In the guise of the oil tycoon, Aldo apparently impresses Assia, and everything seems to be going well. Giacomo, Aldo, and Calcedonia, by now a kind of extended family, also manage to help Giovanni make peace with Dolores: they call her and ask her to marry him, and she accepts. The next day, Giacomo goes to the bank to receive the financing from Assia, but she refuses to grant it, thereby revealing the truth to him: the previous evening, Aldo had been unable to make love to her because his usual reluctance had overcome him, and he had begun making decisions of his own. Giacomo flies into a rage and reproaches Aldo for having a “little nun complex,” and the two start arguing. At that very moment, Giovanni discovers that Calcedonia has died. Giacomo, who has since divorced, sells a very rare original copy of Giuseppe Ungaretti’s The Buried Harbor that he owns to raise money for Calcedonia’s funeral and Giovanni’s wedding. It has suddenly lost its value: he bought it for 40,000 euros, but is paid only 4,000 euros for it. With that little money, the three of them still manage to buy everything they need by choosing very cheap items and reusing Calcedonia’s old wedding dress. On the very day Dolores returns, accompanied by her cousins the Mariachi and her three children, both Calcedonia’s funeral and Giovanni and Dolores’s wedding take place in the courtyard of Giacomo’s former villa, even though the area has been placed under legal seizure. A year later, Aldo, Giovanni, and Giacomo work at their new women’s underwear stall, called Calcedonia’s in honor of Aldo’s mother, and have big plans for the future. They then celebrate the parish team’s first goal. Calcedonia’s is now its sponsor, Aldo is still the coach, Giacomo has become its president, and his son plays on the team. The goal is scored by the shyest, clumsiest player, who used to hide in the lockers during practice.