I also agree that the review seems too harsh. Here in Switzerland the movie has been a great hit, and had great word of mouth. I must confess that I have not seen it yet — and being chided for it by my colleagues— and that the trailer makes it seem "too American". As some commenter mentioned this film is based on a…

Thank you for your comment. The catalogue of great Italian directors like Monicelli and Germi, or actors like the great Toto (known to the US because of a sequence in Cinema Paradiso and as the master safe cracker in Big Deal on Madonna Street) is available in Italian-made DVDs. The problem is mainly the issue of…

A true master - and ripe for re-discovery
Monicelli is one of the true greats. It is a shame that he is not well known in the US — it seems to me that only "I soliti ignoti " aka Big deal on Madonna street is available in Region 1 DVD.

pippa…
…. is "to jerk off" in Italian. It is also the feminine of Pippo, who is the character Goofy in the Italian translation of the Disney fumetti.

Hi!

I would like to add that in the US I found mostly Italian neo-realist or auteur Italian cinema (Fellini, De Sica, Antonioni). But Italian comedy of the postwar years is absolutely wonderful.

Religulous at Zurich film festival
Hi,