Pane, amore e fantasia (1953)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Luigi Comencini

Writers:

Luigi Comencini (story) &
Ettore Maria Margadonna (story) ...

Release Date:

20 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

...the stuff great entertainment is made of!

Plot:

Marshall Antonio Carotenuto is sent to Sagliena, an imaginary little village in the center of Italy in the 50s...

Plot Keywords:

Italy | Beautiful Woman | Carabinieri | 1950s | Catfight

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Vittorio De Sica	...	Il maresciallo Antonio Carotenuto
Gina Lollobrigida	...	Maria De Ritis, detta 'La Bersagliera'
Marisa Merlini	...	Annarella Mirziano, la levatrice
Virgilio Riento	...	Don Emidio, il parroco
Tina Pica	...	Caramella, la domestica
Maria-Pia Casilio	...	Paoletta, la nipote del prete (as Maria Pia Casilio)
Roberto Risso	...	Il carabiniere Pietro Stelluti
Memmo Carotenuto	...	Il carabiniere Sirio Baiocchi
Vittoria Crispo	...	Maria Antonia De Ritis, madre de la 'Bersagliera'
Guglielmo Barnabò	...	Don Concezio, il sindaco
Gigi Reder	...	Ricuccio
Fausto Guerzoni	...	L'uomo col cannocchiale
Nino Vingelli	...	Don Vincenzino, il venditore ambulante
Attilio Torelli	...	Rumbumbù, il negoziante di generi alimentari
Checco Rissone	...	Il barbiere

Also Known As:

Bread, Love and Dreams (USA)

Runtime:

93 min | USA:90 min | Argentina:94 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Hungary:14 | Finland:S | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Castel San Pietro Romano, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Titanus

Trivia:

Some of the dialogue is spoken in Abruzzese, a dialect spoken in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Pane, amore e gelosia (1954)

A small joy

I caught this gem while I was sick, and it was an ideal picker-upper. Light as air, practically plotless (which makes it's Oscar nomination for Best Story rather curious), this is one of those quirky regional charactar studies which are churned out with a sort of self-satisfied presumptuousness these days, but done this well are still the most joyous films to watch.

The film relies mainly on the insuperable charm of de Sica and Lollobrigida, who maintain a high-wire act of being delightful individually and having chemistry together, yet never making us want them to wind up in each other's arms. We instead root for de Sica in his enthusiastic persuit of Marisa Merlini, because she is warm and good-hearted, and Lollobrigida in her pining for Roberto Risso, despite the fact that he's something of an automaton. (I know he's supposed to be stiff, but good lord, does the lad even have a pulse?)

The film's message is a bit of an odd one. It seems to be that love topples all, transcends all and should be chosen above all - even loyalty to serving one's country. This is a surprisingly subversive subtext for such a breezy comedy. But then, there is a fair amount of serious material here, such as the evil storekeeper who grants loans to poor people then keeps them going forever by declaring anything they repay him 'interest', even if that means charging five thousand lire interest on a one thousand lire principal (what makes the storekeeper ABSOLUTELY evil is that he feels himself ill-used when his victims don't pay). Or the way the townspeople treat Lollobrigida, who is doomed by her good looks to endless rumours. There is a telling passage of dialogue between de Sica and the local barber, who says Lollobrigida "knocks around to make ends meet". When de Sica asks with who, the barber answers "Everyone and noone. She's hard to catch out...but you can ask anybody." In other words, everyone knows her ways, even though there's never been a shred of actual evidence (the local gossips conveniently overlook just how odd it is that no specific man has been linked with her in a town this small).

These dramatic elements are played out well, but mostly it's the comedy that sticks with you - de Sica's ravenous romanticism, Lollobrigida's ferocious independence, and the people of the town ever looking on and speculating wildly about what they see from afar, until in a final line that has a kind of glorious happiness in it, they seem to finally be getting the right idea.