The Italians don't have a problem making fun of serious things. Roberto Benigni got the whole world laughing with a Holocaust movie. Lina Wertmüller satirized man's will to survive in her WWII dark comedy, Pasqualino Settebelezze. Mario Monicelli's La Grande Guerra, perhaps the grandfather of such movies, aims its satire at World War I.
The movie follows Giovanni Busacca and Oreste Jacovacci, two comical anti-heroes who are drafted and spend most of the time trying to find ways to stay out of the front or acquire some rare comforts amidst the war. The movie is mostly plot less and instead emphasizes amusing episodic situations. This gives the movie maximum freedom to explore as many situations as the imagination of the screenwriters allowed.
However this movie never stoops to frivolity. Amidst the horrors of war, there's a strong criticism of war in general and also of the way the soldiers are treated by their own country. Monicelli's camera shows the squalor of the trenches, the hunger, the worn boots and uniforms. The battles are bloody, chaotic situations; when it shows Giovanni and Oreste watching a bombardment in the distance, we share with them the relief we're somewhere else. We rejoice when they think their way out of a dangerous situation and commiserate with them over fallen friends.
And like the best war movies, La Grande Guerra manages to show the best of mankind. Comradeship, selflessness, courage, loyalty are in display here.
La Grande Guerra is over 50 years and yet remains an impressive experience. Modern movies can be technically more authentic, have better sfx, better make-up, have better sound mixing, etc., but $100 millions of budget won't buy them the emotional core of this forgotten movie.
The movie follows Giovanni Busacca and Oreste Jacovacci, two comical anti-heroes who are drafted and spend most of the time trying to find ways to stay out of the front or acquire some rare comforts amidst the war. The movie is mostly plot less and instead emphasizes amusing episodic situations. This gives the movie maximum freedom to explore as many situations as the imagination of the screenwriters allowed.
However this movie never stoops to frivolity. Amidst the horrors of war, there's a strong criticism of war in general and also of the way the soldiers are treated by their own country. Monicelli's camera shows the squalor of the trenches, the hunger, the worn boots and uniforms. The battles are bloody, chaotic situations; when it shows Giovanni and Oreste watching a bombardment in the distance, we share with them the relief we're somewhere else. We rejoice when they think their way out of a dangerous situation and commiserate with them over fallen friends.
And like the best war movies, La Grande Guerra manages to show the best of mankind. Comradeship, selflessness, courage, loyalty are in display here.
La Grande Guerra is over 50 years and yet remains an impressive experience. Modern movies can be technically more authentic, have better sfx, better make-up, have better sound mixing, etc., but $100 millions of budget won't buy them the emotional core of this forgotten movie.