Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageI Soliti Ignoti (1958)
Director: Mario Monicelli
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A charming comedy, perhaps a little déjà vu after countless imitations and variations culminating in Louis Malle's distinctly iffy 1983 remake as Crackers. Countering the famous sequence in Rififi which observed in meticulous detail the perfect execution of a robbery, Monicelli offers a robbery equally meticulously planned (by a sad sack mix of desperate unemployed and washed-up pros) in which everything goes hilariously wrong. It may not sound much, but Monicelli's timing (giving the series of disasters an almost malevolent inevitability) is brilliant, the ensemble playing couldn't be bettered, and the deliberate cartoon-style stereotyping of the characters is neatly offset by a neo-realist emphasis on real locations in the dank slums of Rome.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Mario Monicelli
Producer: Franco Cristaldi
Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Marcello Mastroianni, Toto, Memmo Carotenuto, Claudia Cardinale full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 105 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now