Though a number of films in which Benigni
appears have not reached the US, many of his ear-
lier efforts have been available for some time on
home video in this country. As of this writing, none
of his films have been released on DVD (with the
exception of the just released
Seeking Asylum
– see sidebar).
But while you wait for the soon-to-be released laserdisc of
Life Is Beautiful
, consider the following five films on LD and
VHS:
Down by Law
1986 • 107 minutes
Writer/Director Jim Jarmusch’s starkly photographed black
and white film about three losers – all victims of circumstance
who end up together in a New Orleans jail cell and who subse-
quently escape – was Benigni’s first American (and English-
speaking) feature. The film has a decided “watching paint dry”
pace, particularly in the beginning, which shows the malaise
and boredom of the surroundings – while the visuals and nar-
rative keep things interesting. The first half hour is taken up
with one day in the lives of a hot-shot pimp (John Lurie) and a
down-and-out disc jockey (Tom Waits) leading up to the “set-
ups” that put them behind bars. Around the 20-minute mark,
Benigni makes his first appearance – with his back to the cam-
era – appearing like a vision to the drunken Tom Waits. He says,
“ I t ’s a sad and beautiful world,” in a thick Italian accent, to
which Waits replies, “Buzz off.” Rather than taking offense,
Benigni takes note of this new expression (perhaps a greet-
ing?), practices saying it with different inflections and in differ-
ent contexts – “Hello, How are you and buzz off to you, too!”–
writes it in his little black book for future reference, and disap-
pears. Throughout the film, in an effort to improve his fractured
English, he carries around this little notebook and writes down
any phrase he hears, usually having no idea of its real meaning.
When not spouting Italian translations of American poetry and
p h i l o s o p h y, he innocently and happily parrots these phrases in
incongruous situations.
While he’s an unlikely fellow to find wandering around
Louisiana (almost like a friendly alien from another planet),
Roberto (who goes by his real name in this picture) nonethe-
less becomes the heart of the film. Not long after Lurie and
Waits are jailed, Benigni joins them in their cell. His manner
and demeanor upon entering his new surroundings are not
unlike those of Stan Laurel. Like a child, he is cautious of – yet
curious about – his new “friends.” He studies them, attempts
to make conversation and tries to learn better English from
them. While they are at first reluctant to befriend him, Rober-
to manages to bring them out of their shells. In doing so, he
serves as the glue that gradually brings these two surly, self-
ish, brooding American rebel-types together. While they ben-
efit from his ingenuity (it is he who discovers a means of
escape from the prison and keeps them from starving in the
wild), they also benefit from his warm kindness and friend-
ship. They clearly become better people just from knowing
this “good egg.”
Toward the end of the film, the beautiful NicolettaBraschi
(also going by her real name) appears as a lonely café owner
with whom the fugitives find refuge. The highlight is a loving,
sensuous dance between her and Roberto to the Irma Thomas
song “It’s Raining” on the jukebox. There’s a feeling of blissful
irony and cosmic justice that these two warm souls – Italians
in a foreign land – should meet and fall in love. While the ulti-
mate fate of all the characters is left in question, you can’t
help but suspect that Roberto and Nicoletta will go on to a
happy life together.
The film was released years ago on VHS through the Fox
label, Key Video – then disappeared. It was finally remastered
and re-released on VHS in 1996 by Polygram Video ($15),
which led to its first domestic laserdisc release [ID3911PG]
through Image Entertainment in the same year. The disc is
now an out-of-print collectors item.
Johnny Stecchino
1991 • 102 minutes
Even before
Johnny Stecchino
(“Johnny Toothpick”), Benigni
had written, directed, and starred in several Italian films (all
of which have yet to be released on video in this country).
However,
Stecchino
went on to become Italy’s most success-
ful box-office hit until
The Monster
and
Life Is Beautiful
, and
thus received a theatrical release here, where American audi-
ences got their first impression of what the multi-talented
Benigni could really do.
Following in the grand film comedy tradition often used
by Peter Sellers, Benigni plays two roles: that of Dante, a free-
spirited bus driver who yearns for romance and has a propen-
sity for stealing bananas (by sleight of hand from fruit mer-
chants), and that of Johnny Stecchino, a macho
mafioso
forced into hiding by a feud with a rival family. While the first
role is one that we’ve come to equate with the warm Benigni
Benigni with Claudia Cardinale and Blake Edwards in 1993.
