PimpinAinttEasy To the Ghost of Mario Monicelli, Come sta andando? I really enjoyed Big Deal in Madonna Street. So many filmmakers have stolen your ethos right from Woody Allen to George Clooney and the Coens to some really awful Indian filmmakers. You had me right from the title sequence with the too thieves walking in the shadows towards the car. There were some really interesting camera angles and directorial flourishes (like the way the camera moved when the kids are playing the stick game) throughout the whole film. It also had an interesting structure with you introducing the two apparent protagonists at the beginning but soon both of them slip into the background. Your film was like a slightly slap-sticky and hilarious rendering of Italian neo-realism. The bumbling and imbecilic working class characters not only evoked sympathy and adoration, but also a sense of desolation. This was foregrounded in the final scene when the old man is left all alone in the street after Vittorio Gasman's character is pulled in (seemingly not by accident?) with the other workers.Best Regards, Pimpin. (9/10)

FilmCriticLalitRao As a genre, "Italian comedy films" present a different facet of Italian cinema. These films are about an imperfect Italian society where people would like to get involved in self mockery (auto derision) as it enables them to correct weaknesses related to their behavior. "Big deal on Madonna Street" is about a small group of small time criminals from different backgrounds who make various plans to crack the safe of a pawnshop. After the end of second war world, Italy was in an absolute mess. Its ordinary people suffered the most as they did not have any jobs. This compelled many people to make quick money by stealing whatever that was available to be stolen. Apart from Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli is hailed by critics and public as the undisputed master of Italian comedy films. However, he mixed a great deal of dramatic elements in "I Soliti Ignoti". Monicelli shows how difficult things seem to appear when one is in the planning stages of a crime as people are beset by personal problems. Apart from depicting the universal sociological truth that "crime never pays", Monicelli's film also questions why some people do not want to work ?

petra_ste Comedy is the hardest genre to do well. Put characters in a haunted house with a skilled director behind the camera, and you've got a passable horror. Get two appealing leads with a nice chemistry, and you've got a decent romance. A compelling premise and solid visual effects make a watchable sci-fi flick. And so on. But comedy is subtle and elusive. There are no safe, foolproof formulas: so many things have to work (characters, cast, dialogue, plot, pacing, direction...), and any flaw can be fatal and make the whole structure collapse.I Soliti Ignoti is a gem: a character-driven, briskly paced parody of a heist movie with sharp dialogue and unforgettable vignettes. There's no fat on the bones, not a single wasted sequence. Characters are memorable, from Gassman's dim-witted leader (this was his first comedic performance, a revelation) who plans a great robbery but tragically overestimates his own cunning to his sarcastic right-hand man (Mastroianni), from solemn Sicilian rogue Ferribotte to ancient, clumsy, gluttonous, overly enthusiastic Capannelle. A cameo from Totò as a skeptical master thief is one of the many highlights of the movie.While not as abrasive as the other great master of Italian comedy of those years (Pietro Germi), director Monicelli manages to squeeze in some caustic social commentary, as he examines with sympathy the urban underbelly of losers and social rejects.A masterpiece, and among the gems of Italian cinema.10/10

cincywalsh This movie was a great parody of the various heist films made at the time. I have one question that I hope someone can help me with. I had seen this movie at the time of its release and loved it. About a year ago, I was thinking about it and got it to show to my wife. It was everything that I remembered, except for one thing. I have a distinct visual memory of one of the gang slipping down a coal chute to get into a building and coming out glistening and announcing " they converted to oil". But this scene wasn't in the movie. Am I crazy or was there more than one version? Could they have changed the film at some point during the intervening years? My memory of the scene is so exact I hate to think I've made this up and believed it all these years.