TMDb Score. [9], "The Icicle Thief (1990) - Box Office Mojo", "16th Moscow International Film Festival (1989)", "Movie Review: 'Icicle Thief' an Ingenious Parody", "MOVIE REVIEW: 'Icicle Thief' an Ingenious Parody", Spotted Dog Running at the Edge of the Sea, Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Icicle_Thief&oldid=1016833754, Articles containing Italian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Matteo Auguardi as Paolo Piermattei, Antonio’s baby son, Massimo Sacilotto and Carlina Torta as television viewers, This page was last edited on 9 April 2021, at 09:27. Use the HTML below. He is the only winner of an admission test for a job, and just for this reason he isn't hired. The Icicle Thief (Italian: Ladri di saponette) is a 1989 film by Italian director Maurizio Nichetti, named in imitation of Vittorio De Sica's classic Italian neorealist movie, The Bicycle Thief (Italian: Ladri di biciclette). As a stark, black-and-white neo-realist tragedy airs on TV, bright color commercials disrupt the narrative. We take a look at how Oscar front-runner Chloé Zhao will change Marvel forever. A populist right-wing tabloid newspaper tries to derail the official police investigation of a brutal murder of a young girl in order to help the fascist and right-wing candidates it supports in the upcoming elections. An Italian filmmaker named Maurizio Nichetti (played by the real Maurizio Nichetti, the movie's writer/director) made THE ICICLE THIEF, a homage to the post-WWII classic THE BICYCLE THIEF. The captain, Fausto, who wants no pity, brooks no disagreement, and charges into every ... See full summary ». But in The Icicle Thief, a satirical fantasy about the way television butchers the movies it puts on, Italian film director Maurizio Nichetti 'discovers' these insights as though for the first time". Shy Maurizio dubs sound for cartoons while his outgoing brother dubs more saucy ... See full summary », Three girls share a flat in Milano in the '80s. Ironically, The Icicle Thief was financed by Italian TV and is already scheduled to appear on the same program that the neorealist pastiche appeared on in the film, with Claudio Fava as host. Salvatore Landolina, Actor: Ladri di saponette. The TV audience, watching in their homes, are completely oblivious of the interruptions and the "outrages" perpetrated on the director’s artistic intentions.[4][5]. Its commercials ruin the dramatic integrity of the programs they interrupt. Martina is a professional lady whose clients are harmless if eccentric; she sees herself as a social worker. Neither actors nor viewers can tell the commercials from a "Bicycle Thief" parody on Italian TV. ''The Icicle Thief'' is the fourth feature in which Nichetti performs the triple role of writing, directing and acting. THE BICYCLE THIEF was a landmark film on every level which told in a simple, straightforward way about the ordinary, forgotten people who never have movies made about them. Re-viewing The Icicle Thief Tony Mitchell The Only Country in the World In March 1994 a group of nine film directors prominent in the recent revival of Italian cinema released a collaborative film entitled Lunica paese nel mondo (The On/y Country in the World). [6], Nichetti is forced to enter the film universe to restore the original plot, but Bruno convinces Don Italo (Renato Scarpa) to shift the blame from Antonio to Nichetti for Maria's murder, after learning of Nichetti’s orphanage plot: this causes Nichetti to chase Bruno through the commercial universe before ending up in the commercial for floor wax, where Maria had been realising her aspiration as a singer. 74. Howe goes on, "The parts of Icicle […] that bash the boob tube comprise the film's least enlightening elements; they're facile, almost sophomoric. Title: A cheeky satire of television and an ode to Italian neo-realist films, this playful movie features director Maurizio Nichetti playing himself. The Icicle Thief. A strict father imposes impossible guidelines on his disabled daughter which reflect his secret, tortured life. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. (1989). The Icicle Thief is a thoroughly captivating Italian film by director, screenwriter, and actor Maurizo Nichetti. But in "The Icicle Thief," a satirical fantasy about the way television butchers the movies it puts on, Italian film director Maurizio Nichetti "discovers" these insights as though for the first time. The Icicle Thief. The film goes beyond the themes of war and anti-Nazism and concerns itself with man's struggle to preserve human dignity. As our story resumes, the movie script Icicle is writing about herself is almost … Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Icicle Thief (1989) Maurizio Nichetti Italian comedy - rare VHS free S&H? So Nichetti has to break into the film to try to sort everything out From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. "The Icicle Thief" needed dialogue, the way he seques from a tv broadcast of a film, blending the charactors crossing from the color commercial into the B&W film and charactors from his film migrating to the commercials was brilliant and surreal. The amusing and entertaining adventures of a recently released mental patient and his band of misfits, discover conspiracies to concur while looking for love. The pompous director is initially pleased with the seriousness with which his work is analysed, but he then becomes distraught when his black-and-white opus is repeatedly interrupted by full-colour commercials. Reviews in chronological order (Total 0 reviews) Post a review. The Icicle Thief. It is tied to the movie through three lines of dialogue referring to chandeliers (one of them stolen during the movie) so sparkly they look "like icicles" - but this word occurs only in the English subtitles! The Icicle Thief has been constructed as a parody-come-homage to both its namesake, Vittorio de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief/Ladri di Biciclette (1949) and the school of Italian neo-realism that gave birth to it. It slices our sense of reality into 15-minute chunks. The opening with the tv critic stumbling to describe a film he has not seen is a perfectly on-target parody of the very school of criticism that leant these definitions to the movement. ''The Icicle Thief'' does not have the deep resonance of ''The Purple Rose of Cairo,'' which its blend of ''movie'' and ''real'' characters superficially resembles. It is a meditation on the way Contemporary Italian Directors are treated, or mistreated, in current-day Italy. "The Icicle Thief" is not rated but would probably be in PG or PG-13 territory for some nudity in an Italian commercial and one character who spends the entire film in a skimpy bathing suit. It revolves around a poor man who steals a crystal chandelier for his wife who aspires to be a singer. I said it gives us limited attention spans. […] But the parts which reveal, without self-conscious underlinings, the trashy TV culture in which we live, as well as the TV commercial switcheroos, are where it's worth watching". Open for comments. The River Thames froze over on twenty three occasions between 1620 and 1814. Personally, I think it's a great and bizarre film which owes alot to Fellini's 8 1/2. If you like weird movies that trancend meta-levels, See this now! The Icicle Thief (Italian: Ladri di saponette) is a 1989 Italian comedy film directed by Maurizio Nichetti, titled in imitation of Vittorio De Sica's classic Italian neorealist film The Bicycle Thief (Italian: Ladri di biciclette). Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? [8], In The Washington Post, Desson Howe was less impressed, beginning by noting, "The TV thing, right? An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he's come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music! The Icicle Thief News, Posters, Trailers, Images, Cast and Plot Maria, thinking that Antonio is having an affair with the model, enters the commercial universe by faking her death, causing the police in the film to accuse Antonio of murdering her. His "masterpiece" follows the bleak travails of a poverty-stricken unemployed man (again played by Nichetti) who finds work in a chandelier factory, but cannot resist stealing one of the gleaming lights for his wife. It played to ecstatic reviews and was a surprising financial success. It turns us into dumb couch potatoes. An ex-army scout is hired by ranchers to kill cattle rustlers but he gets into trouble with the corrupt local officials when he kills a boy. The Icicle Thief. Free shipping for many products! A young gentleman goes to Australia where he reunites with his now married childhood sweetheart, only to find out she has become an alcoholic and harbors dark secrets. Next Up In Utah. 90 min 7.2 1989 Italy Overview. The Icicle Thief (Italian: Ladri di saponette) is a 1989 Italian comedy film directed by Maurizio Nichetti, titled in imitation of Vittorio De Sica's 1948 classic Italian neorealist film The Bicycle Thief (Italian: Ladri di biciclette). Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Icicle Thief This is a film-within-a-film comedy that is reminiscent of Woody Allen's THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO. As indicated by its title, The Icicle Thief shamelessly parodies Vittorio De Sica's neorealist classic The Bicycle Thief--but it's much more than a mere lampoon.Director Maurizio Nichetti appears on-screen as a pompous filmmaker whose new film The Icicle Thief is the last-minute substitute for a more highly regarded "masterpiece" on an intellectual Italian TV program. [2] The film won the Golden St. George at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival. The film's Italian title Ladri di saponette, a play on the Italian title of De Sica's film, means "Soap Thieves"; it is justified by dialogue where a boy is told not to use up all the soap when washing his hands, and his mother wonders if he is eating it. "The Icicle Thief" needed dialogue, the way he seques from a tv broadcast of a film, blending the charactors crossing from the color commercial into the B&W film and charactors from his film migrating to the commercials was brilliant and surreal. The Icicle Thief [Ladri di saponette] Directed By: Maurizio Nichetti January 21, 1989 / Italian English / 89 mins A movie resembling. Some feel The Icicle Thief was created as a spoof of neorealism, which predominated Italian cinema after World War II. When Antonio manages to smuggle a chandelier out of the factory, he is supposed to be paralysed by a traffic accident with a truck while riding home with the chandelier (just after the plot diverges due to a power failure). There are no reviews yet for this film. These and other TV-loathing observations, as most of us have asserted in everything from organized junior-high class discussions to alcohol-induced dorm-room rantings, are inarguably true. But, as with many such films, the inner spirit frequently carries you over, and although Nichetti tells us practically nothing new about the global village, he certainly has fun with the possibilities". So Nichetti has to break into the film to try to sort everything out, Best of Both Worlds: Color and Black & White- Part 2, Comédies qui m'ont fait rire selon les époques, Michael Brooke
. One ... See full summary », Misadventures of Colombo, an engineer in Milano. However, it is generally understood that the film is critical of the impact of consumerism on art, as suggested by the contrast between the nested film and commercials, and the apathy of Italian television viewers in recognising the difference between the two. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Sometimes the ice was so thick that people could walk from one side to the other or cross in horse and carriage. [3], The movie begins with an egotistical film director, played by director Maurizo Nichetti himself, discussing his latest film on an intellectual Italian TV channel which is about to broadcast it at short notice in place of a more highly regarded competitor’s. [7], Back in the film universe, Antonio laments the apparent loss of Maria and Bruno, and the possibility of the model leaving him due to the grim nature of the film. The director’s original plot followed the travails of Antonio Piermattei (Maurizo Nichetti) and his impoverished family: Antonio finds work in a chandelier factory, where he tries to steal one of the lights for his wife, Maria (Caterina Sylos Labini). The director Maurizio Nichetti is invited by a TV studio to introduce a screening of his best-known film, the neo-realist classic 'Ladri di saponette'. Add the first question. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Not Yet Rated 1 hr 30 min Comedy. the way the three worlds in the film begin to inter-weave is very clever. Michael Brooke . For English-speaking audiences, the title was changed to The Icicle Thief, playing on the English title of De Sica's film. In the original Italian dialogue they are said to sparkle like pearls (pèrle) and drops of water (gocce), but in the English subtitles, they look "like icicles" (which in Italian would be ghiaccioli). The English title of the newer movie, "The Icicle Thief", has no relation to the Italian title but instead is a play on "The Bicycle Thief". The Icicle Thief Synopsis. Overall, however, Howe concluded that: "things become a little too convoluted and Icicle joins that crowded group of Italian movies with an apparent inability to understand the concept of excess. So he becomes a barman, and he discovers a ... See full summary », An army cadet accompanies an irascible, blind captain on a week-long trip from Turin to Naples. It gives us limited attention spans. Nichetti then attempts to return to the real world, only to be trapped in the film universe after the viewer switches off the television set before going to bed.[2]. She found The Icicle Thief to be an "ingenious comedy", adding, "Pirandello rarely did it better and in The Purple Rose of Cairo Woody Allen didn't get this nuttily complex", before concluding that the film is "a lot like its creator--slight, ingenious and sneakily irresistible". The satirical throwback to neorealism of postwar itally worked quite well. [6], A power failure in the studio causes a model (Heidi Komarek) from one of the commercials to end up in the nested film's universe and disrupt the plot. This title was justified by changing the wording of the English subtitles when the characters talk about some chandeliers and one is stolen. Two Jewish boys escape from a train transporting them from one concentration camp to another. IMDb R. Tomatoes. This FAQ is empty. The director Maurizio Nichetti is invited by a TV studio to introduce a screening of his best-known film, the neo-realist classic 'Ladri di saponette'. However, Nichetti manages to convince Maria and Bruno to return to the film universe with shopping carts of modern-day goods, with the Piermattei family reunited the satisfaction of the viewer (Carlina Torta). Luisa is a beginner actress dreaming about a career in the show business, Angela is university student and Carlina a part-time teacher. Was this review helpful to you? For its 50th anniversary, The Bicycle Thief was reissued in a newly restored print. The Icicle Thief. A movie resembling Bicycle Thieves is shown on TV, but the real-life world gets muddled with the film and the TV commercials. The Icicle Thief ★★★ Ladri di Saponette 1989 “The Naked Gun” for the arthouse crowd. The Icicle Thief Reviewing the film for the Los Angeles Times, Sheila Benson wrote, "Bless the Italians and their obsession with movies. The Icicle Thief Bambú Cinema e TV Comedy. Some feel The Icicle Thief was created as a spoof of neorealism, which predominated Italian cinema after World War II. Here, clearly, the medium is the message. 13 January 2011. 1 of 2 people found this review helpful. Bicycle Thieves (Italian: Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as The Bicycle Thief) is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. This week's films. Soon ads invade the the movie itself, and the film's director jumps into his picture to fix the damage. Written by The director’s original plot followed the travails of Antonio Piermattei (Maurizo Nichetti) and his impoverished family: Antonio finds work in a chandelier factory, where he tries to steal one of the lights for his wife, Maria (Caterina Sylos Labini). But Nichetti is horrified to discover that his black-and-white tale of life in poverty is constantly interrupted by garish colour commercials, and even more horrified when a power cut in the studio causes film and commercials to be mixed up -a glamorous model finds herself in the arms of an unemployed pauper, while his wife finds herself in consumer heaven. THE ICICLE THIEF says as much about the passivity of people who watch TV at home as it does about the indiscriminate, often odious, incursion of commercials. at the best online prices at eBay! The director Maurizio Nichetti is invited by a TV studio to introduce a screening of his best-known film, the neo-realist classic 'Ladri di saponette'. The satirical throwback to neorealism of postwar itally worked quite well. This movie is not supposed to make you laugh. View production, box office, & company info, The director Maurizio Nichetti is invited by a TV studio to introduce a screening of his best-known film, the neo-realist classic 'Ladri di saponette'. The 9th issue of Icicle will feature the 24-page penultimate chapter of "Icicle: The Movie," by Dennis Mallonee, Dell Barras, and Lou Manna, with a gorgeous cover by Ulderico Fioretti. Some feel "The Icicle Thief" was created as a spoof of neorealism, which predominated Italian cinema after World War II. The nested film borrows key elements from the Bicycle Thieves, with the protagonist family having the same first names from the original, and the director intending to end the film tragically. The accident would have forced Maria into prostitution, with their two sons, Bruno (Federico Rizzo) and Paolo (Matteo Auguardi), ending up in an orphanage in the final scene. In 1989, Maurizio Nichetti directed a loving spoof of the film called The Icicle Thief which starred famed Italian clown Roberto Benigni. Having created a permanent niche in the hearts of the world's movie sentimentalists with Cinema Paradiso, they now let loose their secret weapon, writer-director-actor and comic extraordinaire, Maurizio Nichetti". In the film, a director brings his neo-realist movie to a television studio for broadcast. But Nichetti is horrified to discover that his black-and-white tale of life in poverty is constantly interrupted by garish colour commercials, and even more horrified when a power cut in the studio causes film and commercials to be mixed up -a glamorous model finds herself in the arms of an unemployed pauper, while his wife finds herself in consumer heaven. It is also a reflection of how these film directors are Intellectual shunned by "Intellectual" film critics in favor of more time honored classics such as "The Bicycle Thief" and also how films are treated by the Television Companies, which produce or co-produce most modern Italian films. THE ICICLE THIEF opens with the real director of the film arriving at a TV studio to be interviewed about his latest movie. When he is informed that some American named "Prisney" (or something) has ... See full summary ». Nor is it merely a parody of "The Bicycle Thief". The director Maurizio Nichetti is invited by a TV studio to introduce a screening of his best-known film, the neo-realist classic 'Ladri di saponette'. Salvatore Landolina is an actor, known for The Icicle Thief (1989), Happy Family (2010) and Matlosa (1981). ( or something ) has... See full summary », Misadventures of Colombo an..., directing and acting the history of the film, a director brings his movie! 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