Pane e cioccolata

This film about the struggles of an Italian immigrant in Switzerland generates bizarrely conflicting emotions; indeed at times you don't know whether to laugh or cry! I saw this years ago when I was at university and I expect it has dated in the sense that the status of immigrants has changed a lot since then. It may even be disquieting at times for those who have grown-up believing that they must never laugh at particular social groups, but the film is clearly sympathetic to those whose dignity is compromised daily by their circumstances of life. I defy anyone not to cry with laughter at the restaurant and chicken-coop scenes.

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.

Although a bit too long,"Pane e Cioccolate" features moments of unquestionable brilliance,of sheer genius ,which make him a classic of the Italian cinema any day.

The scenes in the chicken cop are terrific and include idea to rival the best of the Italian cinema of the seventies ,which is saying something.It's so terrific I have to search my memory to find such terrifying scenes as those of the poor wops turning into poultry.And as if it weren't enough,those purple passages are followed by the irruption of posh young people,rich kids,who look like E.T.s .

It's Italian directors' forte to walk a fine line between comedy and drama (the drag act),a thing French movies simply can't achieve ,with a few exceptions.Much more accessible than his stodgy "disordine" ,"pane" is Brusati's (and Manfredi's ) triumph :it's updated Chaplin -the scene when the hero chews his sandwich when elegant ladies are serving cakes and enjoying classical music - An immigrant will always be "tried out" .Everywhere he shows,he will be the perfect loser .

Like this? try these.....

They're a weird mob (Powell,1966) America America (Kazan ,1963) The immigrant (Chaplin,1918)

I saw this film when it first came out and fell in love with it.

Having spent some time in Switzerland, I knew the truth of the rejection of foreign workers, and I saw the places where they lived in great poverty, in the midst of rich, glittering inter- national crowds. The bigotry was (and still is to a great

extent) painfully true.

This is one of those marvelous films that makes one cry and laugh, almost simultaneously. As many have said before, it is Chaplinesque.

I especially appreciated hearing the various languages actually spoken by the characters - German, Italian, Greek, Turkish. The subtitles help the viewer very well indeed, but the sound of the actual languages enhances the verisimilitude of the story.

Just recently I have, after more than 20 years of searching, discovered that this film is on video tape, and I can't wait to acquire it - at long last!

Bread and Chocolate is a very humanistic movie that mixes funny with sadness. The way the Brusati shows us the way foreign people are welcome to Switzerland is somehow not the saddest way but in addition it has some humor. This makes the audience, like people said before, cry and laugh at the same time. It can also be based on a real person and not fictitious as people like Nino would do anything to stay in a country where they have opportunities. Excellent job for Brusati, it is the first Brusati film I have seen and I am looking forward to see another one.