Reviews

Villaggio plays Fracchia, nice man cursed by bad luck (very much like Fantozzi). He is like a twin to a dangerous criminal, La Belva Umana, who changes identity with him.

The cast includes other icons of Italian comedy of the 70s and 80s, like Lino Banfi who, Francesco Salvi and Massimo Boldi, all very funny in their respective roles.

But the biggest laughs come in the scenes with Gigi Reder who plays the loving and caring (too much loving and caring) mother of the Belva. In those scenes you see a lot of Italian mother-son relationship, obviously under the lens of great satyr and wit.

Don't miss this movie, together with the first movies on Fantozzi.

This movie is really a little gem. I need a little effort to defend this argument. It's enough to remember that it is directed by Mario Monicelli, the GREAT director (La Grande Guerra, I soliti Ignoti, Guardie e Ladri, L'Armata Brancaleone and many others), and that it won seven David di Donatello, an important Italian movie award, including best movie and best director.

The cast is also incredible, as it groups together so many European icons: from Sweden Liv Ullman (the protagonist of many Ingmar Bergman movies); from France, the beautiful Catherine Deneuve, and the wonderful actors Philippe Noiret and Bernard Blier; from Italy the divine Stefania Sandrelli, always beautiful and realistic, and the already very very good actress Athina Cenci.

After the cynic "Parenti serpenti", Monicelli again films a portrait of another Italian family. There is not a real protagonist in this movie, the protagonist is the family. There is a lot of fun, but also some thoughtful moments, as always in Monicelli's movies. All the males in this movie end up revealing their egoistic nature or stupidity. A concept that the Italian Comedy of 50s and 60s (which Monicelli belonged to) already expressed and elaborated extensively. The difference here is that there is hope, and this hope resides in women.

I don't want to say that this is a movie just for women. It's fun, it's serious, and it does a very nice homage to women and sisterhood.

I say don't miss this movie, males and females, I am sure you won't regret it.

I think this is a movie you have to see. We loved the Verdone of 'Un Sacco bello', 'Bianco Rosso e Verdone' and 'Borotalco', the evolution of the Commedia all'Italiana of 60s and 70s. Here we have something different,something more cynic and more sad, but still funny and worth watching. In the same period (end of '80s) a historic participant of the Commedia all'Italiana era, Mario Monicelli, made movies with a similar atmosphere (I am thinking of Parenti Serpenti for example).

I think that Verdone's career is very similar, in its evolution, to Woody Allen's. Woody started playing the funny loser who seldom has a girlfriend, just like Verdone in the first movies. Then, Woody started to change and became a very serious and talented director. Verdone attempted the same road, with success in this movie.

Then the later Woody Allen scored some ups and downs (he did lately very trivial movies, like 'don't drink the water', and wonderful gems, like 'deconstructing harry', 'match point'). In the same way, later on Verdone did useless movies (Il cinese in coma, for example) and some little gem, like Iris Blond.

This movie is in the middle of these two parts of Verdone' carrer. It's a very realistic movie, you will identify with one of the characters for sure. Don't miss this one.

I like this movie, a lot. Because Verdone is funny, because it's a very nice love story, and because of the beautiful co-protagonist Margherita Buy. There are many laughs in this movie.

I know, Verdone is most appreciated for his first movies, but I think he did some little gems, like this one, later on. Fans are always conservatives. They would like an artist to do the same stuff ever and ever. Artists instead experiment, change, sometimes they do the right thing and sometimes not. I am afraid lately Verdone did some really horrible and useless movies, I still wonder how, but I appreciate his talent when I think he deserves it. And this time is certainly the case.

Don't miss this movie.

This movie got an Oscar for the script (among the others, by Pietro Germi, the gifted director). However, the real importance of this movie can be demonstrated by saying that an entire genre, "la commedia all'italiana" (Comedy, Italian style) is named after this movie.

A major issue of this genre is to make fun of our traditions and culture (I am Italian) despite the radical changes our Country was having during those years ('60s, '70s).

The main issue of Neo-realism (Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti) was to describe the tragic reality of miserable lives after the catastrophic WWII. Then the Italian economic boom of the '50s drove Italy into modernity and wellness. Commedia all'italiana wanted to remind us that despite this modernity we are always the same Italians we were before, with all our intelligence but also with all our defects.

"Divorce, Italian Style" is set in the most 'conservative' place of Italy of that time, where traditions like family honor were still predominant despite all modernity. In the first shots of the movie we see an environment suffocated by the heat of the Sicilian climate. People spend part of the day in their apartments waiting for the cool evening. This motionless environment is highly metaphoric, as it shows that nothing really changes in this land, suffocated by the weight of old traditions. Probably this is not so true today, but at that time certainly was.

However, don't be scared by this introduction. The movie is FUN and it turns into a fast-paced rhythm shortly.

The protagonist loves his cousin and wants to marry her, but he is already married. So he plans to murder the wife, pretending to do that for a 'legitimate' defence of honor. What is amazing is that all the village, all the people in the movie support murder for the honor of the family. They even induce him to kill. And what is sad, is that the law at that time was really soft for those types of murders.

To summarize this movie has these characteristics: 1) VERY FUN. You can't stop laughing even if the script is tragic (this is a characteristic of masterpieces) 2) WELL ACTED: Marcello Mastroianni gives one of his best performances. Stefania Sandrelli is beautiful as ever, Marcello's wife is ugly and a nuisance as her role imposes, and Leopoldo Trieste is another great actor of Italian cinema.

3) WONDERFUL STORY: the script won the Oscar and it is truly very intelligent 4) SOCIALLY COMMITTED: it is an accusation of a wrong law that supports a wrong tradition (the law was changed shortly after).

I give this masterpiece a 10 out of 10, and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

I am not a fan of musicals. I often avoid to see them at cinema, but sometimes I see them on DVD and regret my choice. There are many musicals that can be considered the best movies ever: The Blues Brothers, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Picture Show to name a few.

This is a beautiful musical, too, that can compete for quality with the above mentioned ones, even if I voted 9 for this (my favorite ones are perfection). First the music is great. It has so many famous songs rewritten to fit in the script. I was delighted especially by the "Like a virgin" scene and by "Show must go on" (I'm always touched when I hear this magnificent song. It tells a lot of life and death and can be considered the most impressive testament by Freddy Mercury. One of my favorite songs ever). The initial song (I knew a boy..) is also very touching.

So, the music is great, the script is funny and well written, the direction is wonderful, the actors are great, Nicole is sexy and as good as usual. But Jim Broadbent (the owner of mouline rouge) is the best actor in the play. He creates a character that you cannot easily forget.

Don't miss this movie in DVD. 9 out of 10.

This is a really funny movie with the great Alberto Sordi (at his best) and the incredible Franca Valeri. It's another portrait of the defects and geniality of some Italian people. Sordi is quite specialized in showing our egoism and hypocrisy.

Il vedovo (the widowed) is Alberto Sordi, a little and stupid entrepreneur who is married with the rich and smart Franca Valeri. He wishes the death of her wife as he is often humiliated by her due to his stupidity. She is smart and makes a lot of money with her business. He is always asking her for some money and tries to be good with her just for this.

It's very funny also his relationship with his attendant, his former superior during the War whom now he considers like a slave servant (it's so true that cowardly people is bad with subordinates and bootlicker with superiors!).

The entrepreneur starts thinking of killing his wife to get the money, but his plans are destined to be changed.

Very very funny, not one of the best movies ever of Alberto Sordi but one of the best of Franca Valeri. Absolutely worth watching. A little gem of Italian Comedy. Thanks Dino Risi!

OK, again another Monicelli's masterpiece (based on an idea of the genius Pietro Germi). This movie talks about: friendship, comrade's, love, sex, loneliness, betrayal, fun, sadness, death, sons. In one sentence: it talks about life.

There is a lot of FUN in this movie, as the main characters seem to never grow up, they just want to joke about everything, NOTHING is really THAT important or serious to be spared by jokes. The son of the journalist is more mature and serious than his father... remember that we are in 1975 and this is absolutely counter-intuitive!! in that period young people were fighting on the streets for freedom of thoughts, of sex, and for political reasons!! Well, in some ways young people during that period were more socially "committed" than their fathers who wanted to preserve the status quo.

In this movie however the middle-aged characters make fun of the status quo: the broken noble betrays his wife for a teen-ager, the surgeon does not care to leave the hospital in troubles for joining his friends, the journalist does not understand his son and never tries to, the architect wants to conquer the heart of a married woman, etc... it's like: "OK, you youngsters do not care about the old moral rules? we, your fathers, too, even more than you..."

It's also a sad movie, as this search for continuous fun is a sign that something is wrong in their lives. The architect leaves his new family to join the company for the joke at the train station, as he is fed up with all the problems a real and traditional family provide. Normality is boring and annoying. Fun comes from friends and from breaking the moral or society rules. It's better a good joke (even a cruel one) and have fun than keep a normal life-style and be bored (this is a philosophy that some Italians really have).

There is plenty of UNpolitically correct situations... feminist people can be very nervous seeing this movie... remember that it's a movie that reflects a particular culture, the Tuscany of almost forty years ago (the movie is set in the 60's). But real love is not banned in this movie... it's just a cynic point of view (real love ends up eventually, when it becomes normal life).

I have seen several times this movie and every time I enjoy it. Also the sequel is good, but the first is just incredible. Do not miss this movie. You'll have lots of laughs and an essay about certain Italian culture.

I loved "princess mononoke" (the previous film of this director) and I love this one, even if less strongly. This is a strange movie, probably not targeted to a children audience, because there are some disturbing scenes and some hidden messages that can be faced only with an adult mind. Which kind of messages? First, I think that there is the idea (already present in Mononoke) that nature is good and industrialised world is bad. You can see this by comparing the two terrible big-nosed sisters of the movie, where the first runs a factory-like bath for spirits, the other one lives inside the nature and is far more good than the previous one. Another message is that our industrialised, capitalistic world has something wrong. I don't know if the director is left-wing or even communist but what I feel is that he - being a creative person - dislikes factories and tayloristic/beaurocratic organisations such as those shown in his movies. Low-level workers are like those little black balls that bring carbon to the fire for the rest of their lives. Or at least this is the message I want to see. Finally something related to the recent economic situation of Japan. The father says that what they are in is probably an amusement park that, with the advent of the economic crisis of first '90s, now is in abandon. The struggle of his daughter to find a job is something that probably now has become very present in Japan (as well as in Europe) due to this economic crisis. The movie thus becomes the representation of the end of childhood, when one has to get a job and become independent from its parents, who are accused to have lost country whealth, to have eaten all what is good (and destined to the spirits - that is "the nature") and to have become pigs.

I see those messages, but maybe I'm wrong and just so "European" (that is cervellotic) and I want to see messages everything also where there are not.

However in general this is a strange and maybe disturbing movie but I suggest every adult to see it.

two days ago Alberto Sordi, Albertone for romans, passed away. He was a giant of italian comedy. This movie is a comedy but also a touching review of italian emigrant life style in Australia, the other side of the world. There was a time when in Italy the misery forced people to leave the homeland and spread all around the world. this movie is for them, because it shows their epic efforts to cope with a new environment, often hostile and mercyless, trying to defend their italianity and their community. The hidden values of these italians are no more represented in Italy, at least in the modern zones of Italy. They live in the era when they left Italy. In this sense they are the mirror of our past, but also of our future, when inter-cultural societies will be the norm.

This is my first Bruce Lee movie I've ever seen, I've just finished watching it, 20 years after its production. It's a bad movie, really bad: the story is stupid, the dialogues are surreal, the gags are not amusing, the direction and the the narration even worse. I must confess that I am not particularly interested in watching kung-fu movies, because beyond the fight scenes - that can be amusing sometimes - rarely there is a worth watching movie. However I HAD to see this movie because of the Lee legend and I don't regret my choice because I think there is some sociological reason to see it.

As citizen of Rome I am not particularly proud of the use of Rome in this movie. In the initial scenes the movie shows some of the well-known Rome monuments while the car of the protagonists pass through the city center. The girl drives her car even through the michelangiolesque square at the Campidoglio, where cars are not allowed to pass...

All these scenes are just mediocre post-cards that could be avoided. Better would had been to show these monuments in the narration of the movie, as in the final scene inside the Colosseum. But even in this scene a good director would have done better: the entire fight is among brick walls, barely you can recognise they are inside the Colosseum! Would had been enough to build a little stage inside the arena and have the fight where the real gladiators fought and died. The spectacularity of the scene would have gained a lot I think.

Apart from this, the movie could have been filmed in China. Most of the scenes are inside the restaurant (that really doesn't seem a chinese restaurant as we have in Rome) and in apartments (with post-modern furnitures, never seen in Rome).

The bad boys are all but romans: blacks, indians, americans, even a japanese. Maybe the stupid fat man that yells "Mamma mia!" is italian.

This international team seems to act as Rome was its headquarter, police is a ghost (excepting the conclusion). If you are eating at a chinese restaurant and a team of armed bad boys invites you to go out what do you think you'll do? will you just go out looking for another restaurant, without bad boys if possible? If you are a character of a kung-fu movie probably yes.

"Ok ok, but the audience doesn't care of this, the audience wants kung-fu" that's the answer that probably the producers would say. I agree but this movie seems to lack even real kung-fu scenes! I mean, half of the movie doesn't show any fight, and in the rest the fight scenes are slow, short and without special tricks or effects. I appreciate more fight scenes of Jackie Chan or Matrix or even Bud Spencer!!

The american fighter is beated in one minute, and so the japanese one. The chinese waiters, without honour I would say, after Bruce Lee slayered the japanese fighter, continued to beat him without mercy even if he could not react. Is that the chinese philosophy of fight? I'm sure not. In this scene I think the movie shows the hate that chinese people feel against japanese people. Probably chinese people have their good reasons: during the last world war Japan committed huge massacres in China and never apologised for this. But this scene has not a good message for humankind I think.

In conclusion if this wasn't a Bruce Lee movie I would say: "don't waste your time watching it". However this IS a Lee movie and if Lee is a legend for so many people we are forced to see his movies just to understand why he is a legend.

As I said this is my first Lee movie. I probably have to watch the other movies because so far I can't understand why.

I'm not satisfied. "The silence of the lamb" and "Hannibal" are both better than this prequel. Why? First the story: is that new? I'm not referring to the fact that this is a remake of a movie (Manhunter) but that the story itself is quite dejà-vu. We have Hannibal again as a consultant, the hero that does not want to come back to work but finally he accept to exploit his great skills and courage. We have stupid ways to make the audience shocked (when the hero - Norton - checks the victims house he thinks of the murder and suddenly there are few shots with shouts and blood; when the hero interviews Hannibal when he is having a walk outside of the cell Hannibal tries to shock him - and the audience - with a simulation of a bite. Folks, here we are at the BOOO-level!!). The acting: Hannibal has no more the charme of the first Hannibal. I don't know, probably he says things I have already heard in the first two movies. Norton: I couldn't image him in the role of the good boy and maybe it is a bias I have. However his acting for the first time is not so exceptional. His character is not so... Norton, I mean it could be anyone, not Edward Norton, one of the best actor I have ever seen. Fiennes as the monster is very good, as good as Emily Watson, whose character is truly sweet and during the film we all prey God to not let her die. The final has nothing so special. It is only a link with "The silence of the lamb". I think "Silence" is the best of the trilogy, "Hannibal" the second best (at least is quite different from the first and there are a lot of incredibly gore deaths). This one unfortunately is not at that level. I haven't seen Manhunter yet, now I have the curiosity to see if there is a chance to do a good movie with this script.

Dawn of the Dead is a masterpiece. It is really scary and somehow - as I saw recognized in other comments - it has one or more messages. Why it`s so scary? For me the most scary movies are those in which everybody can become the monster, even your brother, your mother, yourself (as said in this movie). However this movie has something more than most of the other horror movies: the atmosphere, the direction and, as I said the messages. One message I found - maybe I`m wrong - is that the situation of the protagonists in the mall and zombies outthere is a metaphor of our situation, the rich western world members that ignore what`s going on outthere, in the third world. Another interpretation could be less `macro`: simply the middle class that doesn`t care of the working class and thinks only to consume (consumerism). However the dichotomy is clearly between those who are rich, few, strong, armed and those who are poor, many, hungry, angry. The scenes when the zombies out of the mall assault some piece of meat all together remind me some medieval movie in which the people was in the identical conditions. As the film was going I felt some simpathy and mercy for the zombies. In sum their only fault was to resurrect. When they ate some of the bikers I felt somehow happy because they deserved this (even if the bikers are human beings at the very end). Is this a `political movie`? I don`t know either the history behind this movie and the story of the director to say this. I can only say that this is absolutely a must see for those who want to discover or already love the horror genre.

When I saw this movie, in Rome at the Barberini Cinema the first weekend, there was almost a riot (whistles and yells from almost all young public). This movie is really disappointing (I`m polite). First, it`s not scary at all. The script wanted carefully to follow the rule `do not show the monster to be scary` but what it obtains is that it doesn`t show ANYTHING worth watching. Second, the interesting idea of the story is the part we all saw in the trailers and commercials. The story in the film adds a little more and not always unexpected: in conclusion BORING. Third, the camera work, in the attempt to appear `real`, is unpleasant (most scenes are shot while walking or running and this causes something like the sea-sickness). If I can forgive the neorealistic movies, the intellectual French movies, the Danish DOGMA movement for this is only because they can offer something back and the naive camera work adds something to the overall art of the movie. But here?

The post-movie question was: are we really all stupid to be cheated by a commercial? The answer was: yes. But only this time.

It`s another proof that a good (excellent) marketing is enough to make money in this business. Don`t waste your time and money watching this boring, useless, unneeded movie.

Ok, the italian comedy of the `50s and `60s is one of the best in the world. I say this not only because I am italian but because it`s true. Just rent or buy the movies of directors such as Pietro Germi, Dino Risi, Steno and of course Mario Monicelli. L`Armata Brancaleone is one of the best comedies ever because of the script, the gags, the language (a very funny mix of ancient italian and latin, I don`t know how the translation could work) and the actors, first of all Gassman, the protagonist, that Monicelli `discovered` as a comic character in `I soliti ignoti` (before that Gassman played almost exclusively drama plays). Even the representation of the Middle Age seems to me (a non-expert in history) quite accurate: see for example the prophet who guides the people towards the Crusade (an incredible Gian Maria Volonte`).

Another gem of italian comedy, a must-see for everyone.

Monicelli is another genius and poet of the Italian cinema. We can only bless him for the long list of masterpieces he created for all of us: I soliti ignoti, Guardie e ladri, L'armata Brancaleone and of course La Grande Guerra. Two cowards, one from Rome (Sordi) the other from Lombardy (Gassman) try to save their lives during one of the most tragic moments (for Italy) of the WWI (the defense on the river Piave). While in some parts the film is truly a blame against the horrors of war, in other parts is somehow patriotic. Even the tragic final changes the protagonists into heroes, but really a strange kind of heroes, very different from the American icon (muscles and bravery). In conclusion, you will find a lot of fun but also thoughtful moments. I beg everyone who read this message to see this movies, it's truly one of the best ever.

I`m still laughing when I remind the protagonist, how much is borious, ignorant and his I-can-fix-all-don`t-bother-me-with-your-bla-bla-bla style. To make this film they`ve spent probably a lot of money (good fxs) and it`s definitely worth watching even if you missed the previous EVILDEAD movies (they aren`t related so much with this).

This movie is really funny even if its genre could be considered horror or sf. The cute little Gitzmos can change into murderer gremlins only adding some water. Some of them appear as little punks or heavy metal-fans or members of street bands that like so much to drink, break everything and kill human beings. Maybe the message is that it is really simple to transform our sons into punks or let them degenerate into psycho-killers, drunk or madmen and to ruin even the most clean and organized society... it`s enough some water more than necessary... don`t grow up so fast, sons! we want you all obedient and cute like Gitzmo!

Fellini was a genius and a poet and this movie is one proof. Amarcord means `my memories` in Rimini slang, however these are not the memories of an adult but of a child. This is the world as the little Fellini saw in his early ages. A world of myths, discovers and dreams. What I really can`t forget to mention is the incredibly realistic, funny and professional portraits of Titta`s parents. Pupella Di Maggio is simply incredible.

This movie is a milestone in italian cinematographic art, one of the few movies you can`t stop watching at, because you can discover with pleasure new details and new emotions every time.

Strongly reccomended for those who love cinema.

Carlo Verdone here is maybe at his best (I also love with the same passion his `Bianco , Rosso e Verdone`), while transferring on the big screen some of the characters he played on the italian TV (a successful operation in this case). There are three stories and three main characters played by Verdone (he plays also a priest and a professor): Leo, Ruggiero and Enzo. Leo, to me, is a representation of the provincialism and traditionalism of some italians who don`t speak english and live with parents or grandparents even in the adult age, compared to the cosmopolitan Marisol who travels all around the world and lives without inhibitions.

Ruggiero is the part of the italian people who reject the italian traditional way of living, escapes from his tyrannic father (an unforgettable MARIO BREGA) who happens to be communist (`fascio a me? guarda che io non so` communista cosi`, so` communista cosi`!!` - untranslatable) but `italian style` (the father asks for help to a priest and a professor to convince his son to come back home). Ruggiero however, even if his choice - a hippy community, a wide phenomenon at that time - is ridiculized by the movie, is a winner compared to Enzo, the guy who wants to go to Praha to pick up easy girls (at that time communist and scandinavian countries were the place of legendary easy sex encounters in the popular italian mithology). The character of Enzo is, for me, a mix of Alberto Sordi`s Nando Mericoni (`Un americano a Roma`) and Vittorio Gassman`s Bruno Cortona (`Il sorpasso). I mean, Enzo is like Nando and a Bruno wanna-be. Enzo finds his way of life trying to emulate some kind of distorted american-style of life (`A voi fa fuma`? Smoke! `A voi fa beve? Drink!, `A voi sfragna`? Fuck!) and tries to find a mate for the journey and in order to escape his loliness (in his address books we read among the white pages: Olimpico, Stadio and Stadio Olimpico).

In conclusion a must-see movie for those who want simply to see a real comic movie and also a funny representation (but at the end somehow sad) of some italian ideal-types