Claudio Carvalho In the Middle Ages, a group of marauders pillage a scroll from the fearful and dangerous Arnolfo Mano-di-Ferro (Alfio Caltabiano) that grants to its owner the property of Aurocastro, a wealthy land with grapevines and cattle. They seek out a knight to claim the real estate and share with them. When they meet the ruined Brancaleone da Norcia (Vittorio Gassman), he accepts to be their leader and they travel to the land. Along their journey, Brancaleone defeats the nobleman Teofilatto dei Leonzi (Gian Maria Volonté) that joins his army. Then they head to the Holy Land with the preacher Zenone (Enrico Maria Salerno), but while crossing a bridge, their friend Pecoro (Folco Lulli) falls off in the river and vanishes. When Zenone falls in a abyss, they travel to Aurocastro again. Then they rescue the damsel Matelda (Catherine Spaak) and Brancaleone promises to her tutor to protect her virtue for her fiancé and receives one hundred golden coins. However, Teofilatto has one night stand with the maid and Brancaleone is imprisoned in the castle of her fiancé. Brancaleone and his clumsy army get in many troubles until they reach Aurocastro. But their adventure has not finished yet. "L'Armata Brancaleone" is one of the funniest comedies of the cinema. The last time I had seen this film was on 27 February 2000, and with the death of Mario Monicelli yesterday, I have decided to see the clumsy Brancaleone and his army again. The story is very well developed with hilarious situations and Vittorio Gassman has a magnificent performance in the role of the the anti-hero Brancaleone. The screenplay presents the most different situations in the environment of the Middle-Ages and the hero always gets in trouble despite his perfect planning. I did not recognize Gian Maria Volonté in the role of Teofilatto dei Leonzi. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "O Incrível Exército de Brancaleone" ("The Incredible Army of Brancaleone")

spaiz-1 well, a local essay cinema showed this movie today. i saw it the last time maybe 15 years ago, and the movie is more than 40 years old. a masterpiece. the Italian spoken is so overwhelmingly old, it took me 10 minutes to get into it - and i'm Italian. in fact, i once saw an interview with the authors saying that it took them very long to sort out the exact language. i wonder what happens when it gets translated. for 2007 times it's slightly slowish, but it got me laughing on the floor more than a couple of times, something that didn't happen to me in a theater in a looooong time. some of the initlai sequences set a standard for amazing comedy. a superbly crafted movie. monicelli is great, gassman and the cast are fabulous. hats off.

james-pennington-1 I saw this film in an Algerian cinema in 1967 - it was dubbed in French (so the cod-Latin/Italian invented language was lost on me) and I think I was the only person laughing. It was a cinema in Constantine (east Algeria) - well before any religious unpleasantness which would account for there being some people buying tickets. I believe it was the inspiration for The Holy Grail. I thought it was a complete spoof, little realising, until I returned to England, that there was a whole "genre" I knew nothing about. A "genre" that seemed to be taking itself seriously when in the hands of Leone. Someone, please, tell me there is a DVD available.

Sigmund It is difficult to export this movie outside Italy, in particular because much of the amusement lies in the funny language used, a mix of italian dialects and mock middle-age latin. Anyway, it would be yet a good choice for everyone. It may remember Monthy python's 'Holy Grail', as a surrealistic medieval comedy. Only, this is way better. It is no surprise, considering that we have two great authors, a great director, and a group a great actors. And the word 'great' is no exaggeration! If you ever get a chance to see it, don't miss it, because it's unique.