Zamora (2023)

The 1960s. Walter Vismara is a thirty-year-old accountant at a small factory in Vigevano and a fan of the TV quiz show Lascia o raddoppia?. When the company’s owner, Commendator Galbiati, takes early retirement, Walter finds a new job at another company in Milan, working under his boss, Cavalier Tosetto, a close friend of Galbiati. After moving in with his sister Elvira, Walter is immediately introduced to the company’s social dynamics: Cavalier Tosetto is obsessed with football, especially Inter, and makes the employees train every week, splitting them into bachelors and married men to prepare for the big annual May Day match. Walter has little interest in football, but is unable to turn down Tosetto’s request. He volunteers to play goalkeeper, convinced it will be an easy role with no real challenges. This choice prompts Engineer Gusperti, an especially boisterous man who is sexist toward the secretaries, to target him, sarcastically nicknaming him “Zamora” after the famous Spanish goalkeeper of the 1930s. Walter has to put up with Gusperti’s humiliations first at the office and then on the pitch, where he demonstrates his “incompetence.” The only person who doesn’t pick on him is Ada, one of the secretaries. Though shy, Walter asks her out, and the two start seeing each other, brought together by their shared love of Fellini’s films. One day, however, Elvira tells Walter that she and her husband, Ottavio, have been separated for some time. Walter also discovers Ada kissing Gusperti in the company archives. He is devastated and starts ignoring Ada, convinced that she is Gusperti’s mistress—and that Gusperti is married, too. Determined to win her back, Walter tracks down Giorgio Cavazzoni, a former successful goalkeeper who fell into alcoholism after a scandal. After saving Cavazzoni from a beating by two loan sharks, Walter asks him to train him, appealing to his need for money. The former goalkeeper is reluctant, but agrees. Over time, Walter begins to show some small improvements, and the two become friends, even though Cavazzoni still sees him as a pathetic little hanger-on. After Walter apologizes for his behavior, the two make up, and Cavazzoni opens up to him, saying that he has a son who is about to graduate in physics from the Scuola Normale in Pisa, but that they no longer speak because of Cavazzoni’s problems. While Walter and Cavazzoni spend a lot of time with Elvira and her friends, Gusperti keeps making fun of Walter, and Ada tries to reconnect with him, but he won’t listen. Walter’s football skills have now become quite polished when, one evening, he comes home and finds Cavazzoni in bed with Elvira. Furious, he cuts ties with his friend and moves out of his sister’s home. After returning to Vigevano and handing in his resignation, Walter is visited by Ada. She explains that she was never Gusperti’s mistress, that what Walter saw was just a misunderstanding, and that she was deeply disappointed by his behavior. She tells him she had truly been in love with him and that the two of them could have had something. Left with a rejection, Walter also gets back in touch with Cavazzoni. The two are finally reconciled, and Walter accepts his friend’s relationship with his sister. They also urge each other to seize their opportunities: Walter will play in the May Day match, while Cavazzoni will go to his son’s graduation to talk to him. Cavazzoni also tells Walter that he has a natural talent for football and that it would be a shame to waste it. On match day, Walter arrives just in time for the kickoff. From the start, he shows the skills he has honed with Cavazzoni and becomes the best player on the pitch. But as the players return to the field for the second half, Gusperti bribes a linesman. With only minutes left before the final whistle, Gusperti throws himself into the penalty area, claiming Walter fouled him. The referee is initially reluctant, but awards the penalty after speaking to the bribed linesman. Gusperti steps up to take it and, fortunately, kicks the ball wide. Walter’s team wins the match. Gusperti shakes Walter’s hand as a sign of respect, and Ada makes peace with him. As Walter leaves the changing rooms, he is stopped by Cavalier De Carli, the owner of a company and a football team playing in Serie D, who offers him a job as an accountant and a place as goalkeeper. Walter is incredulous, then accepts with a smile. Elvira and Cavazzoni move in together; after a long time, Walter finally asks one of Elvira’s friends out; and, at last, Cavazzoni reconciles with his son.