Non ci resta che piangere

Non ci resta che piangere is an amazing movie. The plot may seem a bit improvised, but that movie is much more than just an excuse for some hilarious gags. It contains all the philosophy of Benigni and Troisi, and presents all the different aspects and approach to life of Neapolitans and fiorentini personalities, away from stereotypes (as usual!). It is one of the funniest movies ever, and still, it makes me cry (maybe because I can't help thinking about Troisi, Napoli's best artist of the late XX century). It is a movie many people should see, but when I travel overseas I find it almost impossible to find in rental shops, or wherever.

Two actors at their best (Roberto Benigni before he became big-headed after the world wide fame and the late lamented Massimo Troisi) playing a strange story, where these two young modern men wake up in 1492 after spending a night out because their car broke down.

Settled in the italian reinassance, pretty well depicted despite the low budget used, the movie is substantially a collection of sketches based on the struggles that the two men must fight against the different lifestyle, with some secondary stories based on historical personages lived in that time (Savonarola, Columbus, Da Vinci). This is one of the most beloved italian movie of all the times, and everybody saw this movie can remember all of the most famous dialogues (Vitellozzo after the death of his brother, the "remember that you shall die!" speech, the scene at the customs, and many others) by hearth, as they were funny and innovative.

Directed with a very slow rhythm, that adds a quite poetic touch to the story, this movie must be considered as a small masterpiece, a comedy unique of its kind. Comparing this with one of the later italian comedy should be done to understand the meaning of the term "good taste".

Unluckily, anybody without a very fluent italian can't completely enjoy this movie, because a big part of the funny side of this movie follows from the two heavy accents of the two main actors, mainly the one of Troisi.

Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi are two of the most important Italian comedians of their generation, who ended up being recognized internationally with their masterpieces, "La vita è bella" by Benigni (1997) and "Il Postino" by Troisi (1994), the latter consecrated after his death.

Until they reached the pinnacle of their careers, they went through a series of films where, assuming the role of comedians, they made funny comedies, but of limited content. It's a bit the fate of comedians, to make the public laugh until they finally get autonomy and courage to make a serious comedy, where the laughter is poetic and the wit is intelligent. These two ended up making it and getting the right recognition, which doesn't always happen.

In this four-hand project, the script is weak and even the comedy, with some amusing moments, relies more on the improvisation capacity of the two actors than on situations or previously written dialogues. Above all, it is worth by the natural grace of these two clowns, of unique quality, who are always a pleasure to see perform.

A real masterpiece by Benigni and Troisi. The plot is very simple and there are no special effects. However, what earns this book a place in history books is the outstanding acting performance of these two comedians. You can see from the beginning that most of the sketches are improvisations; their acting is so natural and clean. The reason why it did not gain international recognition is because it cannot possibly transmit the same emotions with with subtitles. Translation becomes nonsense in a movie that is so culturally-bound. I wish I could recommend it to everybody, but I must say that you really need to understand Italian plus some Neapolitan and Florentine dialect in order to appreciate it in its entirety. Besides, you also need to know a little bit about the culture and history of Italy. In Italy, this was, is and will always be an outstanding piece of art.

The comedy is not bad, but I wouldn't call it a good one, whatever you say. Maybe I missed something, while trying to follow the Naples and Toscany accents and reading subtitles in proper Italian (that weren't word for word translations), but it seemed really average to me.

The humor is unequal, though, some things are really funny, while most of the movie felt boring. The low budget Italian film feeling also didn't help, reminding me of those horrible "Princess dresses in boy's clothes and saves her magical cardboard kingdom" films, if you know what I mean.

The movie was recommended by an Italian friend of mine, and he is not stupid, so maybe being Italian helps a lot with this film.