La fille et le général

More than anything this resembles a spaghetti western updated to a different, more modern, period setting. In as much as it follows the picaresque adventures of three bickering travelling companions in a search for treasure against a background of war it is strikingly similar to parts of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. In addition it has a typically Italian soundtrack from Ennio Morricone and uses breathtaking landscapes to good effect. Unlike that film, however, this has no clear sense of what it is or even what it would like to be. There are elements of the war film, there are certainly moments of broad comedy, a dash of romance, and, towards the end a touch of tragedy. While none of these go to make it a coherent narrative, and there is precious little plot to speak of, they combine to form a diverting film which goes nowhere in particular. It also put me in mind of Argento's LE CINQUE GIORNATE although the attempts at social commentary in Festa's effort are slighter. He deals well with the struggle of peasant people and indeed soldiers to find food during wartime, a theme which runs throughout the movie. To his credit Festa does manage to extract a less-mannered than usual performance out of Steiger. This was the first film of Lisi's that I had seen and while she makes an impression as the feisty Ada I couldn't say that she was in the same league as Claudia Cardinale. Umberto Orsini is okay as the soldier but perhaps overplays the 'stupid but loveable' angle. Perhaps the best moments involve a lazy donkey, including some great scenes where Lisi tries to get it to drag the other two along in a giant barrell!

The Girl and the General has a special place in my heart - I saw this late one night when I was about 10 years old when cable TV was brand new and they were desperate for programming. Lucky for me. This was my first real exposure to the wonderful explosion of realism in Italian cinema from the '60's.

The movie does a wonderful job of depicting war as something that happens during peoples' lives, not vice versa. Rather than the defining element of the time, its another element in of life, where people fear, and hope, and struggle.

Wonderfully acted, good cinematography (as long as you remember that this is realism), and decent editing. Full of humor and pathos.

I caught this film on Turner Classic Movies and it kept my interest throughout the entire movie. It was my first viewing of an Italian postwar piece, and I was quite impressed. The only noted actor in the film was Steiger, and his performance certainly was not his best, but the movie was still very good. Overall, I thought that it reflected the futility of war through the struggles of these three characters very well, inserting comedy where appropriate. The Soldier and the Girl had several great, very funny scenes interacting with each other, and the comedy of the movie, though hard to place in a somewhat depressing war movie, actually worked very well. A hard-to-find but worthy film.

The production values of this movie are pretty low but the movie is still made entertainment by its characters and fun adventurous situations.

In its core, the story is pretty entertaining. It's an adventurous story, set in a WW I Italian environment. However the execution of it all isn't always good. The movie suffers from some horrible editing at times, which doesn't help to make the story flow well. The character treatment at times also doesn't feel right. It's for most part unclear which character is supposed to be the main character. Some characters are introduced too late into the movie for that and disappear also out of it for too often. Also of course the idea of making a comedy set during WW I is already a pretty odd idea. It's not the most tasteful movie because of that but if you can look past all those weaker and weird things of the movie, you'll get to see a pretty decent (enough) entertaining movie.

The movie does a fairly good job at creating a war time environment, with constant background explosions (but to be honest the explosions seem pointless, since no forces are nearby- or battles are going on) and nice looking costumes. But its just not impressive enough all. The movie makes a 'low-budget' impression, which is probably also due to the typical simplistic way of Italian film-making. If done correctly, this style can work wonderful and realistic for a movie but this movie does really feel amateur like at times. The musical score by Ennio Morricone is also a pretty weird one, even for comedy standards.

It's pretty weird to see Rod Steiger in a movie like this, in the same year he won an Oscar for his role "In the Heat of the Night" and two years after his "Doctor Zhivago" role. But yes, sure he has played in much worse and even lesser known movies. Plus, he has always been pretty entertaining to watch in comedies, so it's not really a complaint anyhow. The rest of the cast obviously isn't very talented and play their characters very formulaic and without much enthusiasm.

Really no must-see and far from a great movie but when you do decide to watch it, you'll most likely still be entertained by it for most part.

5/10

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A solidly produced, very entertaining, low budget comedy-drama with a fine leading cast providing excellent, more-than-satisfying performances.

During World War I, a poor Italian private (Orsini) and a peasant girl (Lisi) capture an aristocratic Austrian General (Steiger). The Italians trek back to their own lines, hoping to gain a fortune of 1,000 Lira for the capture of the general.

The movie focuses on the three leads for virtually the entire film. The only supporting characters involved are a few Austrian soldiers and one Italian who appears at the beginning, only to be captured and instantly forgotten. Otherwise, the film is all about the central characters. Each actor makes their character come alive. Orsini is excellent as the somewhat dimwitted, illiterate Italian private who, like thousands of others, was drafted. It's just his pure luck that he captured the General. Lisi, like Orsini, is illiterate. She, however, is a civilian. Her everyday life has been disrupted by the war. She has to beg, scour and scrounge for food, water and clothing. She knows that the money can benefit her, also, and is constantly double-crossing Orsini - although the two inevitably fall in love.

Steiger, on the other hand, is great in an offbeat role as the General. He's not a loud, maniacal general a la WATERLOO. Instead, he is sympathetic to his captors for one moment; but, taking advantage of their slight stupidity, he is constantly escaping - only to be captured again. He has a few sentimental moments - teaching the girl to write her name; explaining that he only fights in war because his father did before him; comforting the girl during her last moments. By the end of the film, Steiger has transformed into a caring, likeable father figure; Orsini has gone from a selfish young man to a more sacrificing husband; and Lisi is a more concerned wife.

The movie, while being basically a character study - drama, has quite a few memorable comic moments. Men locked inside a water barrel rolling into a river; long, witty dialog scenes between the smart fool Orsini and the pompous General Steiger; etc. It's all funny in a subtle way; nothing will have you outright laughing, and most of the gags don't really kick in until AFTER they're over with.

The Italian scenery is absolutely stunning. Every shot is filled with breathtaking background images of blue skies, green mountains, rocky valleys and rushing rivers. Ennio Morricone provides (as usual) a perfect music score. At times, it's ultra-weird, with a mix of Italian lyrics and odd instrumentation; some pieces have a strong resemblance to his later, war-time theme in THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY - most recognizably during the scene with the drunken Union Captain.

Turner Classic Movies plays a nearly perfect print of this movie. The colors are fresh, accurate and intense. There is hardly a print flaw. It is presented in an aspect ration of about 1.77:1. I wish TCM would release more Italian war films - or, just more Italian films - with the same great digital restoration.

THE GIRL AND THE GENERAL is an overlooked, funny and dramatic anti-war picture. It is not instantly a classic, by any means, but still holds its place in the genre and is worth seeking out.

RATING: 7/10