The Great War (1959)
"La grande guerra" (original title)

Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army. Giovanni bribes... See full summary »

Director:

Mario Monicelli

Writers:

Agenore Incrocci, Mario Monicelli,

Stars:

Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alberto Sordi	...	Oreste Jacovacci
Vittorio Gassman	...	Giovanni Busacca
Silvana Mangano	...	Costantina
Folco Lulli	...	Bordin
Bernard Blier	...	Capitano Castelli
Romolo Valli	...	Tenente Gallina
Vittorio Sanipoli	...	Maggiore Venturi
Nicola Arigliano	...	Giardino
Geronimo Meynier	...	Il portaordini
Mario Valdemarin	...	Sottotenente Lorenzi
Elsa Vazzoler	...	Moglie di Boradin
Tiberio Murgia	...	Rosario Nicotra
Livio Lorenzon	...	Sergente Barriferri
Ferruccio Amendola	...	De Concini
Carlo D'Angelo	...	Capitano Ferri

Storyline

Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army. Giovanni bribes Oreste, believing to his false pledges to make him avoiding the army. But the destiny make them meeting again on the train directed to the front. Nevertheless Oreste stolen money to Giovanni they become friends and in first times are allocated to a secondary and quite front (village of Tigliano). Here they spend some months in relative peace and Giovanni finds time to fall in love for prostitute Costantina. But war is getting everyday closer. During the most important battle among Italians and Austro-Hungarians, Giovanni and Oreste are in charge to deliver a vital message to the Italian headquarters. But, unfortunately, they fall in the hands of an Austrian officer that, under life menace, starts an interrogation to find out the Italian message. What they should try to do now?

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Plot Keywords:

front | austro hungarian | austrian | italy | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

The Great War is hell at its hottest...men at their mightiest...the screen at its greatest!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian German

Release Date:

28 October 1959 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A Grande Guerra

Filming Locations:

Dobbiaco, Bolzano, Trentino - Alto Adige, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, Gray-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Splendor (1989)

User Reviews

La grande guerra (1959)

A comedy (or perhaps more accurately a dramedy) about two lazy, cowardly Italian soldiers in the first World War. Sordi and Gassman are both terrific, there's some funny bits and touching commentary, and the film is very well shot with realistic battlefields. It's a sharp, humorous anti-war sentiment. I'm a bit at a loss to explain why I wasn't more taken with it. Maybe it was too scattershot, too episodic. While this does sort of mimic the chaos and randomness of war, I never felt like I could settle into the movie. Some event would start to develop and then be over a few minutes later. Then again, I can think of other movies I enjoy that do something similar (M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY) so maybe that's not it. For whatever reason, I didn't get fully engaged with this film, although I do recognize its assets. One of them being the fantastic, and very appropriate, ending.