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I soliti ignoti

Big Deal on Madonna Street or Persons Unknown
Film still from I SOLITI IGNOTI: Marcello Mastroianni sits on the roof of a building in a coat and cap.

Fri 02.09.
20:00

  • Director

    Mario Monicelli

  • Italy / 1958
    106 min. / 35 mm / Original version with English subtitles

  • with

    Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Totò, Claudia Cardinale

  • Original language

    Italian

  • Cinema

    Arsenal 1

    zu den Ticketszu dem Kalender

A couple of petty criminals dream of a big coup. They come up with a plot to burgle the safe of a pawnshop via a flimsy wall in an adjacent apartment. In the process, just about everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Made as the picturesque comedies of neorealismo rosa were turning into a more biting, satirical form of comedy, I SOLITI IGNOTI is considered the first Commedia all'italiana film, combining a cartoon-like stereotyping of characters with a neorealist emphasis on poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rome. The comedy is matched by the tragedy of the protagonists' efforts to find a place in society. The ensemble film brought together stars of the genre such as Marcello Mastroianni and Vittorio Gassman with the comedian Totò and also - in one of her first roles - Claudia Cardinale. (hjf)

Funded by:

  • Logo Minister of State for Culture and the Media