Ladri di saponette (1989)

Director:

Maurizio Nichetti

Writers:

Mauro Monti (writer)
Maurizio Nichetti (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A movie resembling Ladri di biciclette (1948) is shown on TV, but the real-life world gets muddled with the film and the TV commercials.

Plot Keywords:

Fantasy Becomes Reality | Film In Film | Spoof

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Heidi Komarek	...	The Model
Carlina Torta	...	TV-watching Mother
Massimo Sacilotto	...	TV-watching Father
Claudio G. Fava	...	The Film Critic
Lella Costa	...	The TV Producer
Marco Zannoni	...	T.V. Technician
Anna Maria Torniai
Clara Droetto
Ernesto Calindri
Caterina Sylos Labini	...	Maria Piermattei
Maurizio Nichetti	...	Antonio Piermattei / The Director of the Film
Federico Rizzo	...	Bruno Piermattei
Matteo Auguardi	...	Paolo Piermattei
Renato Scarpa	...	Don Italo, the Priest
Salvatore Landolina	...	Sergeant

Also Known As:

The Icicle Thief (USA)

Runtime:

USA:90 min | Argentina:94 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:Not Rated | UK:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Bambú Cinema e TV

Trivia:

This movie makes extensive references to Ladri di biciclette (1948), starting with the title. This is done through a movie within the movie, sharing the same title and also using characters resembling those from the older film in name and appearance. "Ladri di Biciclette" means "The Bicycle Thieves"; while that is sometimes used as an English title, it is better known as "The Bicycle Thief". The Italian title of this newer movie, "Ladri di saponette", is a play on "Ladri di Biciclette"; it means "The Soap Thieves", and this apparently refers to the dialogue where Maria tells Bruno not to use up all the soap when washing his hands, remarking to Antonio that he must be eating it. The English title of the newer movie, "The Icicle Thief", has no relation to the Italian title but instead is a play on "The Bicycle Thief". It is tied to the movie through three lines of dialogue referring to chandeliers (one of them stolen during the movie) so sparkly they look "like icicles" - but this word occurs only in the English subtitles! The corresponding Italian dialogue does not use the word "ghiaccioli" meaning icicles at all. It refers to other sparkly objects: twice to "pèrle" meaning pearls, and once to "gocce" meaning drops of water.

Quotes:

Film Director: Where's the bicycle?
Bruno Piermattei: I sold it.
Film Director: Sold it? But with those bicycle wheels, you were supposed to make a wheelchair for your paralyzed father.
Bruno Piermattei: My father's quite well.
Film Director: Too bad! He should have been hit by a truck while riding home from the factory with the chandelier on the handlebars and your mommy should be whoring to feed the family.
Bruno Piermattei: What's that?
Film Director: You wouldn't know. You're too little. You and your brother should be in the orphanage.

Movie Connections:

References "Capitol" (1982)

Better than most parodies

This clearly stands as one of the greatest parodies of all times, and it is in Italian. Being a great admirer of The Bicycle Thief, I found this movie hilarious, especially during the parts Nichetti was watching his film go out of control. Parodies are slowly becoming a dead art form, especially considering Scary Movie seems to be the best one can offer even though it relies heavily on low brow humor. If you can find this particular film, rent it.