Johnny Stecchino (1991)
Good hearted but not very wordly-wise, Dante is happy driving the school bus for a group of mentally handicapped children, while feeling he is somehow missing out on life and love. So he is very excited when after nearly being knocked down by her car he meets Maria, who seems immediately enamoured of him. He is soon invited to her sumptuous Palermo villa, little suspecting that this is part of a plot. He bears an amazing likeness to Maria's stool-pigeon gangster husband and it would be convenient for them if the mobster, in the shape of Dante, was seen to be dead and buried.
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You won't be disappointed!
Thanks for the memories!
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Yes Bengini is a master of comic timing and plasticity. And the script is a fantastic use of the comedy of double-entendre. But as a Sicilian friend has pointed out, the late 1980's-early 90's was a time of unparalleled violence and legal action against the Mafia, a time when the population was enveloped in fear with reports of killings almost a daily occurrence. In the context of this earlier film, , Begnini's portrayal of concentration camps in Mussolini's Italy in "Life is Beautiful" acquires the weight of Chaplin's "Great Dictator." Fear loses some of its grasp when evildoers become the butt of comedy.
Wonderful roles for Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi. I am not sure whether they got together before or after this film, but if they co-operate in their marriage as much as they do in this film, they will stay together forever. This movie is so extraordinary well written, although you must understand some of the Italian life and habits. The subtle humor will be mostly appreciated I guess by Italians who have moved abroad. They will recognize the bits and pieces that ridicule the 'ol'country', but they are no longer part of it. In a way. Insurance fraud, coke sniffing, corrupted politicians, bribed judges... The people that are best of are the ones that either don't know or don't want to know.
The incredible Roberto Benigni played the role of his lifetime in this movie. A double-role in fact. I won't bother you repeating the story; suffice to say that your slapstick collection is not complete without this treasure.I must admit that for non-Italian speakers, it may be more difficult to understand the most subtle parts of the film. It is particularly great if you understand the Italian society (north v south, mafia culture, etiquettes).Should you be able to lay your hands on this one, get an italian course: it's worth it!
The combination of terrific physical comedy with the clever dialogue makes this subtitled movie glad you know how to read. Roberto Benigni takes a common theme of a look a like and turns it into one terrific comic vignette after another. His conversations of misunderstandings are brilliant.