Sat March 7, 2015
Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli; Italy, 1958)
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at PFA Theater
(see times)
(I soliti ignoti)
This spoof on the caper thriller à la Rififi shows with satiric precision just what happens when real human beings attempt the “perfect heist.” Here we have several individuals, united by their desperate need for money, attempting to rob a neighborhood jewelry store in Rome. All are far too human for their own good. The greatest humanist of the gang is the renowned safecracker Dante (Totò), who delivers an incomprehensible lecture in heistmanship and then wisely heads for high ground. Unlike these boys, Monicelli’s timing is flawless and the film moves apace to a climax worthy of Buster Keaton.
• Written by Age and Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Monicelli, from a story by Age and Scarpelli. Photographed by Gianni Di Venanzo. With Totò, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori.
(111 mins, In Italian with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, From Luce-Cinecittà, permission Rialto Pictures)
show less
This spoof on the caper thriller à la Rififi shows with satiric precision just what happens when real human beings attempt the “perfect heist.” Here we have several individuals, united by their desperate need for money, attempting to rob a neighborhood jewelry store in Rome. All are far too human for their own good. The greatest humanist of the gang is the renowned safecracker Dante (Totò), who delivers an incomprehensible lecture in heistmanship and then wisely heads for high ground. Unlike these boys, Monicelli’s timing is flawless and the film moves apace to a climax worthy of Buster Keaton.
• Written by Age and Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Monicelli, from a story by Age and Scarpelli. Photographed by Gianni Di Venanzo. With Totò, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori.
(111 mins, In Italian with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, From Luce-Cinecittà, permission Rialto Pictures)
(I soliti ignoti)
This spoof on the caper thriller à la Rififi shows with satiric precision just what happens when real human beings attempt the “perfect heist.” Here we have several individuals, united by their desperate need for money, attempting to rob a neighborhood jewelry store in Rome. All are far too human for their own good. The greatest humanist of the gang is the renowned safecracker Dante (Totò), who delivers an incomprehensible lecture in heistmanship and then wisely heads for high ground. Unlike these boys, Monicelli’s timing is flawless and the film moves apace to a climax worthy of Buster Keaton.
• Written by Age and Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Monicelli, from a story by Age and Scarpelli. Photographed by Gianni Di Venanzo. With Totò, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori.
(111 mins, In Italian with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, From Luce-Cinecittà, permission Rialto Pictures)
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This spoof on the caper thriller à la Rififi shows with satiric precision just what happens when real human beings attempt the “perfect heist.” Here we have several individuals, united by their desperate need for money, attempting to rob a neighborhood jewelry store in Rome. All are far too human for their own good. The greatest humanist of the gang is the renowned safecracker Dante (Totò), who delivers an incomprehensible lecture in heistmanship and then wisely heads for high ground. Unlike these boys, Monicelli’s timing is flawless and the film moves apace to a climax worthy of Buster Keaton.
• Written by Age and Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Monicelli, from a story by Age and Scarpelli. Photographed by Gianni Di Venanzo. With Totò, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori.
(111 mins, In Italian with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, From Luce-Cinecittà, permission Rialto Pictures)
show less
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PFA Theater
2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
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