Brot und Schokolade

This movie brilliantly and movingly, but always with a lot of irony, describes the plight of an Italian migrant laborer in Switzerland. Some scenes are among the best in the history of cinema.

A group of migrant laborers are doing some filthy work in a ramshackle barn. Through a small window they see some beautiful young Swiss adolescents riding on horse back. These youngsters look like gods compared to the poor ants in the barn!

In another scene the hero of the film has been trying very hard for some time to assimilate, to become even more Swiss then the Swiss themselves. But he can't suppress his deep feelings of identity for ever. One day he enters a pub and watches a soccer match between Italy and Switzerland. At a certain moment he can't control himself any more and starts shouting to encourage the Italian team. He makes such a nuisance of himself that the Swiss throw him out.

Utterly brilliant!

For the Italian cinema this is an important film. Not only because there's a big actor -Nino Manfredi- but because it's based on real situations of the time it was made...

In the Sixties and Seventies Italian and Spanish workers were the biggest immigrant groups in Switzerland. "Pane e cioccolata" talks about the experiences and difficulties of an Italian waiter in this country. Of course, some situations are caricatural, nevertheless the movie still keeps its strength because everything it's credible.

Manfredi's character wants to remain in Switzerland because he believes he can make enough money to help his family, he dreams of carrying there wife and children and giving them a better life. We laugh a lot, at the same time there's much sadness because we see someone who tries everything to integrate in another society, without success.

A bittersweet comedy, Italians are among the best moviemakers for mixing different feelings and talking about life.

I was four when Bread and Chocolate played at a small theater in San Francisco. My mother decided to take me(no babysitter). The story I've heard many, many times was that I was upset with her that she wouldn't (although now I realize it was more that she couldn't) read the subtitles to me. I eventually became frustrated with her and moved two isles over. My mom has said that she would turn to watch me and although I couldn't truly read the subtitle or comprehend the language, I laughed continually throughout the movie. She said I truly enjoyed Bread and Chocolate. Many years later I rented the movie and it's amazing. It's exactly as I remembered it. Truly a gem of a movie, though the second time around I was able to fully grasp the meaning of this movie. It's universal and it's timeless. I now own this on DVD and have enjoyed sharing it with my family and friends. Certainly a must see movie!

If all the film-festival awards this movie has won haven't convinced you to see it, then my review probably will not either. Regardless, it is important to know how well-done this movie truly is. Nino Manfredi does an absolutely stellar performance as a poor Italian immigrant trying to fit in in a world which dislikes him and his kind. From the start, this seems like a regular enjoyable comedy, but quickly transitions into both a comedy and a drama. On the one-hand, Manfredi's Chaplinesque "loveable loser" character is both endearing and hilarious. On the other hand, the film offers true insight into the problem of immigrational bias and cultural dissimilarity, and a stabbing insight into the premise of a national identity; how it is both meaningless and yet extremely important. This film deserves every award it received and then some.

When this comedy came out in the 70's, it was aptly described as "Chaplinesque". The hero, a coarse Italian immigrant in Switzerland, is as much an Everyman as Chaplin's Tramp. The movie was a hit in the US, winning the NY Critics' Award for Best Foreign Film. Nino Manfredi is funny and touching as the earthy immigrant, the "bread" in the land of refinement ("chocolate"). Anna Karina is stunning as the Greek stowaway who shares some of the same predicament as Manfredi. The "chicken coop" sequence is particularly hilarious. I think this is one movie that deserves to be transformed into a Broadway musical. How about it, Mr. Sondheim?