The Great War
1959 · Directed by Mario Monicelli
Original language: Italian
- comedy
- war
- drama
The story
Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army.
What it’s like
Grainy black-and-white widescreen frames of dusty roads, muddy trenches and bleak mountain country, shot with a loose, observational camera that lingers on crowded barracks, rattling trucks and sun-bleached Italian villages. The sound is mostly bustle and bickering, with a bouncy, sardonic score that undercuts every grim turn. Its vibe is wry, bittersweet and rueful, the kind of comedy that laughs on the surface while the ground keeps shifting underneath. It suits a slow weekend afternoon, a thoughtful evening with a glass of wine, or a rewatch when you want humour with a real ache in it. The pacing is episodic and easygoing, with long stretches of scrounging and scheming broken by sudden moments of horror. Two cowardly, charming schemers slowly and reluctantly discover loyalty and shame, and the emotional register swings from broad slapstick to genuine sorrow. Violence is present and occasionally brutal, mostly in war scenes that land suddenly and without gore excess; there is some crude language and suggestive talk, and the mood can turn heavy near the end. For viewers who enjoy Italian comedy with a dark streak and anti-heroes who are hard not to root for.
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