Chalker1123

This film is an eye-opening look at Italian life during WWII. It reminds me of the stories my grandfather tells me of his life in 1930s Florence during the war, "We didn't have money for anything, not even water. The rich had it all." This movie shows us the sparseness of their lives, and the things that they still hold dear. There are scenes in which it is almost hard to watch, we are torn apart by the brutality of the war, but we are entranced by the people who are living through it. We meet ruthless fascists, and caring catholic priests and every moment describes to us the terrifying truth, and the hope that lets one continue. I could not imagine a more realistic, and emotional epic on the subject.

I believe that this is a classic. It is beautiful and subtle, the viewer is not beat over the head with fish-out-of-water jokes. We see a true reaction to an everyman meeting an assassin. The movie is sufficiently serious to make the humorous moments laugh out loud. There are touching moments between two people who could not be more different, and there is a sense of reality. This is not the story of what could happen in an alternate universe, as the film could have been, but what could actually happen. Pierce Brosnan quips: "Just consider me the best cocktail party story you ever met" and it is perfectly true. This is something a vacationer would love to happen to them, a real adventure. But the life of an assassin is not a story, it is much more than that. The film is very realistic, and the humour is enhanced by this. I would suggest it to anybody who has not seen it.