MartinHafer
The film is set in Italy and begins just after the Italians surrender to the Allies during WWII. At first, the town is ecstatic--they are free and the fascists leaders quickly surrender the town to a man they designate the new mayor, Bombolini (Anthony Quinn). Bombolini seems ill-prepared, however, when the town learns that the Germans are coming--and will be occupying the town. However, a bright young man (Giancarlo Giannini) comes up with a great idea--to put all the town's wine in the Roman tunnels and then collapse the tunnels. That way, the Germans won't be able to steal the town's best resource. First, they need to move 1,000,000 bottles very quickly. Second, Bombolini needs to play nice to the German commander (Hardy Kruger) while also keeping the secret. Third, Bombolini needs to keep his nasty harpy of a wife (Anna Magnani) in line--and that might just be the most difficult task of all! So is the film any good? Of course. With Anthony Quinn in the lead, the film is naturally quite good--as he seems a natural. He is also ably assisted by a nice supporting cast and nice location shooting. However, the film is a bit odd. The first half was rather comical and light in mood. The final portion, with the Nazis, was very dark--and it drug a bit in tempo compared to the first part. Not a perfect film but a very good one.
Bardotsalvador
I saw this movie many years ago and i love it , any movie with Anna Magnani is A most for everybody she was an special actress is not other actress in the cinema like her maybe Jenane Moreau.in this movie she played Rosa Palmolive i remember very well watching the movie and saying how wonderful this woman is, Anthony Quinn is great in the movie they worked together in the past in wild is the wind, Virna Lisi is great here she show how good as actress she can be and how beautiful she was but the movie is LA MAGNANI is a tour de force her performance and plus is her the most amazing actress of the world cinema, the first time i saw Anna Magnani was in the movie Roma open city and i was mesmerized by her performance i feel sorry for Ingrid Bergman when she married Rosellini and he try to make her in another Anna Magnani they flopped nobody can be ANNA MAGNANI
vaughan.birbeck
Let me say at the start that I love this film. Anthony Quinn is superb as Bombolini, the drunken failure who is thrust into the role of mayor of Santa Vittoria, studies Machiavelli's 'The Prince' and becomes a cunning and resourceful leader of men. He knows the Germans expect him to cheat them out of some wine, so he must act as if he's not cheating; then, when the Germans find out he *is* cheating, they won't look for the million bottles he's really hiding. Some drunken clown!Anna Magnani is wonderful. This is the only film of hers that I've managed to see but I think she's great, and far sexier in her earthy vitality than the women we're usually told to think of as 'sex symbols'. [Possible spoiler]:The scene where she admits that Bombolini's leadership has surprised her after the wasted years of their marriage is incredibly touching.[End of possible spoiler.]While I know you shouldn't compare the two media, if you enjoy this film, read the book. Robert Crichton's novel makes far more of the relationship between Bombolini and Von Prumm and their different views of life than a two hour film allows. There are more incidents between the Germans and Italians, and the conflicts within Santa Vittoria itself are explored in far more - and funnier - detail.
Tom Rito
What a movie. The horror of the second world war was that it destroyed millions of normal people's lives throughout the world. This is just one small village in Italy that has survived Mussolini, but now must face the Germans that are coming to take the only thing they have, their wine. The only thing that stands in their way is the town drunk Bombolini (Anthony Quinn in one of his greatest performances). I don't know if this was based on a true story but I hope it was, this small, delightful movies shows why the Germans could never win the war, because no matter how brutal they were they could not take the soul of people. In one of the greatest lines in movie history, the German Captain, (Hardy Kruger in his best role ever), understands all of this when he cries in the end, "What kind of people are you?". This movie is as good as any book could be and seeing the faces of the villagers makes it all the more real.
AD
