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.
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.