•
Rating:
It's quite difficult to maintain a high level with one's works as time goes by... and certainly a masterpiece like "Tre uomini e una gamba" is inimitable. However, even this latest labor by the legendary Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo has its own character, and despite being judged poor by critics, I appreciated it a lot.
The film consists of four episodes, which revolve around scenes showing us an improbable oriental master, Tsu'nam (Giovanni), dealing with two amusing disciples, Puk and Pin (Aldo and Giacomo), in the attempt to teach them how to achieve spirituality under a ginkgo biloba... using a bamboo cane as a "persuader." The episodes display with usual lightness and masterful interpretations (the most notable being the cunning chaplain - Giovanni - in "The Sin Bus," who divides church donations according to a precise criterion: a small part to the Lord, a part to the church, a decaying building, and the majority to his "welfare fund") humanity, with the usual strengths and weaknesses, in a succession of what we could call a genuine carousel, a kaleidoscope of surreal but not too much situations: Giacomo trying everything, even accepting to be humiliated by various and quirky gynecologists (including a bewildered Angela Finocchiaro), just to become a father... Giovanni, a precise and unbearable father, Aldo hysterical, distracted and always fighting with his mother-in-law, Giacomo dominated by wife and daughter in "Milano Beach"... protagonists alongside an ever-talented Victoria Cabello in a sketch (in my opinion, the best) where they are subjects of paintings displayed in a gallery, taunting a fellow painting portraying Napoleon for fun, and for fun fleeing from their frames... and then there's the unforgettable sketch I mentioned above, set in a village parish.
Masterful also the performances of Debora Villa (Patti from "Camera Café"), exasperated wife of Giovanni in "Milano Beach," Luciana Turina Aldo's mother-in-law ("Now it's worse than in the Middle Ages, because at that time witches like you were burned!") in the same episode, Victoria Cabello portraying the famous portrait "Lady with an Ermine," and the indispensable Silvana Fallisi, who appears in various sketches. Unexpected and hilarious, the cameo of the director himself, Marcello Cesena, as the unlucky Jean Claude in "Sensualità a corte": MAAADREEEEEEE!
They continue to make us laugh, Aldo Baglio, Giovanni Storti and Giacomo Poretti, with unforgettable gags ("when was the last time you went to confession?" "Well, let's see, Pertini was still around, we won the World Cup... 2006!", "NO, '82!!!") and with their usual ability to show us the funny side of every situation, making us laugh because it's inevitable, at least once, to recognize ourselves in one of their characters or in one of their stories... they choose, as they always have, everyday life. Few like Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo know how to make us laugh at our own weaknesses. We hope they always continue this way.
Loading comments slowly
