sinful-2
I did really like the start of this movie. It was a bit fun in the start and moved fluently along. Problem for me is it took far too long time to get to what I was waiting for which means the big job. There was far too much personal life for the criminals that was not really interesting enough to carry along as long as it carried on. And then finally the job came up that for me was a disappointing experience.All in all I think the actors did a good job with what they had to work with but it seemed like the director tried making a deep drama instead of a light comedy as in the start. The characters were simply not interesting or deep enough for that and not enough was really happening.I felt the start of the movie was very well done.The middle section getting ready for the job took far too long. Half an hour could easily have been cut of here.Not enough time was spend on the job and here I had expected more time spent and more crazy situations and found it silly instead of funny what happened.The end was actually quite fine and all in all a fitting end but at this time I was actually bored and happy the movie was over.Only see this if you are into slow movies. There are much better and more fun caper movies out there both older and newer.
FilmCriticLalitRao
As a genre, "Italian comedy films" present a different facet of Italian cinema. These films are about an imperfect Italian society where people would like to get involved in self mockery (auto derision) as it enables them to correct weaknesses related to their behavior. "Big deal on Madonna Street" is about a small group of small time criminals from different backgrounds who make various plans to crack the safe of a pawnshop. After the end of second war world, Italy was in an absolute mess. Its ordinary people suffered the most as they did not have any jobs. This compelled many people to make quick money by stealing whatever that was available to be stolen. Apart from Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli is hailed by critics and public as the undisputed master of Italian comedy films. However, he mixed a great deal of dramatic elements in "I Soliti Ignoti". Monicelli shows how difficult things seem to appear when one is in the planning stages of a crime as people are beset by personal problems. Apart from depicting the universal sociological truth that "crime never pays", Monicelli's film also questions why some people do not want to work ?
blanche-2
A group of bumblers decide to rob a pawn shop in the classic "Big Deal on Madonna Street," a 1958 Italian film starring Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Memmo Carotenuto, and Rosanna Rory.One of the reviewers here said he liked it but he never laughed out loud. I did. Several times.A group of low-level crooks decide to rob this pawn shop of jewels, but one of them is sent to prison. Since he's the mastermind, they have to get him out, so they go around trying to find someone who, for 100,000 lire (which was something like $67.00 in 1958) will take his place in prison. Peppe (Gassman), a fighter with a glass jaw, agrees to go once he's ko'd two seconds after getting into the ring. The only problem is, the other guy not only doesn't get out, but Peppe is released before he is.It goes from there, one disaster after another. The plan is to break into the pawn shop through the empty apartment next door, except that one day they notice it's now occupied by two matrons. They leave on Thursday to oversee their vineyards, but the maid stays behind. Answer: Get to know the maid. More complications.The break-in scene is one of the funniest things ever on film, and that's all I'll say.This reminded me of "Small Time Crooks" a little - I'm sure Woody Allen took some inspiration from it.Can't wait to see "Big Deal on Madonna Street - 20 Years Later." Highly recommended. Wonderful acting, wonderful direction by Mario Monicelli, and great photography. The antithesis of "Ocean's Eleven."
Eumenides_0
After enjoying Mario Monicelli's La Grande Guerra, I decided to continue to discover more of his work, and I wasn't disappointed. I Soliti Ignoti, although in a completely different genre, is as funny and elegant as his WWI satire.I Soliti Ignoti is a send-up of caper movies. John Huston invented the caper in 1950 with The Asphalt Jungle, and Jules Dassin's Rififi reached its zenith in 1955. There was nothing new to do but to satirize the genre now.The movie involves a group of incompetent, small-time crooks and thieves coming together to break into a pawn store and steal the safe full of money and jewels. The movie follows this idiosyncratic group planning the heist and trying to overcome the adversities that come up unexpectedly; plus they have to deal with their own private lives.The characters are diverse and have their own little back story: there's Peppe, a failed boxer; Cosimo, a veteran thief who gives the criminals the idea for the heist, but ironically can't join them since he's in jail; there's Tiberio, raising his baby alone while his wife is in jail. And actor Totò plays a small but delightful role as an ex-criminal who gives lessons on how to crack safes.The movie is inventive, full of setbacks and unexpected change of plans, and the humor derives not so much from the dialogue but from the ridiculous situations and personal problems the crooks face. And the movie comes together perfectly at the end - it's unexpected but wholly convincing, even inevitable.Mario Monicelli and his screenwriters deserve a lot of praise for this little pearl of humor.
AD
