Aldo, Giovanni & Giacomo, Massimo Venier
Tre Uomini E Una Gamba

When "Tre uomini e una gamba" is released, the trio Aldo, Giovanni, and Giacomo is already quite established, but with this film, they make a leap in quality.
They gather much of the legacy that their previous experience left them, often drawing directly from some well-rehearsed lines, creating an extraordinary film.

The plot is simple yet demands attention: the protagonists are some small-time slackers supported by a wealthy employer (who is also the father of their wives). Giacomo is about to marry the third daughter but—to cut it short—a flame will come between him and his fiancée. A flame that is a true metaphor: and here we reach the point that makes this film brilliant on its own but also distinct from the rest of the trio's filmography. In other films, they are—in different ways—three poor or unlucky fellows who eventually find their lightheartedness, their joy. Not in this one: it's true, they find amusing things on their journey, joyful experiences, but mostly they live through frustrations (Manch'er telefono sanno usà!), humiliations, tragic episodes (Ringhio!!!), and absurd situations of which they are both victims and architects (Mezzogiorno? Topi morti?). They are not joyful paupers. Of course, it's a comedy, it makes you laugh, but "it makes you laugh" never means "turns into a farce". It's a film that makes you laugh with a bit of melancholic awareness. Not a melancholy that spoils the viewing, but one you realize after watching it a few times and having seen the other films as well. You capture this aspect and think "Eh well...".

Also because the film is suspended between the timeless and the precise historical-geographical position. The girl Giacomo falls for is a metaphor; she makes the three realize—with the bold awareness of the penniless—that they want to reject that life. It's a declaration of pride, mature and disenchanted, expressed precisely through the ingenious and fitting stratagem of marriage. In this sense, the message is quite general. But then the scenes are filled with references to the pop culture or the Italy of the era, in which, to be honest, their sequences are always fuller than one might think. Personally, I greatly enjoy the social reconstruction the three have put together, ranging from the irony of the masks with which they rob the hut of immigrants to the "rawness" with which initially a lady describes the protagonists' position, passing through the tram gag.

And finally, a note for the top actors in this film, Aldo, Giovanni, and Giacomo. Young: Giacomo has not yet "denatured" his intellectual air, Aldo acts the fool no more than necessary, and Giovanni makes good use of his versatility. A film that cannot be compared to the great masterpieces of cinema, but that in its own way has set an example. The trio will create other very beautiful works, but this is their masterpiece. Rating: 93/100.