Cine34 Puts an End to the Controversy Over “Simpatici & Antipatici”: The Uncut Version Airs Wednesday

On Wednesday, November 11, at 9:00 p.m., Cine34 (channel 34 on digital terrestrial TV) will air the uncut version of Christian De Sica’s comedy “Simpatici & antipatici,” which was at the center of controversy last July due to the omission of certain scenes from the film.

Cine34—which has always been committed to protecting and promoting Italian cinema—has recovered the uncut version of the film, thereby superseding the version previously provided by the distributor and released for television and home video. Thanks to this restoration effort, viewers will finally be able to watch the comedy in its entirety.

Simpatici & antipatici, the 1998 cult classic directed by Christian De Sica and written with brothers Carlo and Enrico Vanzina, remains one of the most cynical and representative comedies of Italian satire.

Set in the exclusive Circolo Sportivo Tiber, the film depicts a whirlwind of hypocrisy where Rome’s high society pretends to be something it is not. Among the lazy, womanizing sales clerk (Christian De Sica), the ruthless, newly wealthy real estate developer (Alessandro Haber), the eccentric gym-obsessed regular (Gianfranco Funari), the cynical surgeon (Angelo Bernabucci), the handyman caretaker and lifeguard tormented by the club members (Leo Gullotta), and the young, handsome tennis instructor (Paolo Conticini), the masks of an entire middle class come crashing down.