La grande guerra

To the ghost of Mario Monicelli,

Ciao ancora! The Great War/La Grande Guerra is the second movie directed by you that I watched over the last two weeks. I come from a patriotic country. And the only war films I have seen are mostly the American and British ones and the awful Indian ones. But your film was unique compared to all of them. It is almost a film which a commercial film audience could enjoy though I guess the hardcore patriots would not identify with the two cowardly lead characters. But they are characters anyone with a soul could relate to. Your film hardly ever had a dull moment. It was hilarious. There were so many instances when I laughed my ass off.

The traitorous deserting characters were so tongue in cheek. The characterization is pure genius. The Destouches character from Celine's Journey to the End of the Night came to mind while I watched Oreste and Giovanni stumble through their life in the army. You did a great job portraying the horror of war despite the antics of the two protagonists. It is always the poor and the wretched who are doomed to fight the wars of the rich. Not an original message, but your treatment of this theme was unique.

Vittorio Gassman is such an amazing actor. In India, someone who looked like him would never play a loser. Now I have watched three movies where he plays total losers.

I will be stealing more of your movies over the next few weeks, Mario.

Best Regards, Pimpin.

I think this is one of the italian masterpieces of all times, disguised as a "comedy", just because the main characters are the best italian comedians of all times, Sordi and Gasmann. I would call it the "Divina Commedia" of comedy and of deep feelings against war but for the defense of one's country.

I saw this in Czechoslovakia way back in 1960's and still remember it. I am glad it lists here as a "comedy", it sure is one. That is why it will not be available to us on video of any format in any language under any circumstances. It subverts the "enetertainment' concept. An alternative ? Try Roberto Begnigni, the schlemiel nouveau.

I've only seen it twice, and it's already one of my favorite Italian movies of all time.Directed by legendary Mario Monicelli, this excellent comedy is set during WWI, when the Italians had to defend the river Piave from the Austrians.Two of the Italian soldiers happen to be really lazy cowards:Giovanni Busacca(Vittorio Gassman) from Milan and Oreste Jacovacci(Alberto Sordi) from Rome.They would rather spend their time at home with the mates and the ladies instead of fighting for their country.The only fights they have are with each other, both insulting the other one with their particular accents and dialects (you probably have to be Italian yourself to really appreciate most of the gags). The most interesting thing is perhaps how the two actors handle their roles: Sordi is very calm, controlled and "normal", while Gassman just can't stop being nervous, shouting and gesticulating all the time.

Just like La Vita è Bella, this movie's purpose is to blame the horrors of war as well as making you laugh as much as you can.

For those who like Italian cinema, La Grande Guerra is a must-see.

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.