Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Actually, when this film was in Norway, it was in English, and I have always believed it was it's original language. Once i owned a VHS copy of the film in English as well, but somehow it disappeared during relocating. But I agree with people saying this is Benignis most funny film ever, not necessary his best. No other films I've seen with him gives him so much freedom to show his comical ability throughout the entire movie. And the chemistry with him and Mattau is magnificent. Bracchi is beautiful as ever and some of the scenes makes you laugh so much that it really hurts in your stomach. I know it's out on DVD in Italy, but unfortunately without English subtitles. But there has to be someone out there knowing more about the English version than I do.

Benigni's best film and performance but unfortunately unavailable in the North American NTSC video format. Walter Matthau plays a priest visiting the Vatican who is called upon by church officials to exorcise an unknown demon from a local fat woman. Once the demon is expelled, Matthau hears a racket in a nearby closet only to discover Benigni who proclaims himself to be (paraphrasing), "the disgusting thing you (Matthau) exorcised from the fat woman." His first time out of Hell, Benigni is a devil who is naive and curiously tests the world, discovering many of the mundane little joys of living that we all take for granted. All of this is observed with arm's-length curiosity by Matthau who inadvertently brought this fool- of-a-devil into our world. This great film is in the vein of the lost art of Chaplin and Keaton, approaches and perhaps equals those almost-forgotten cinema artists. If all you can find is a copy in Italian, seek out an interpreter any way you can. You and the interpreter will thank each other afterword. A unique and very worthwhile piece of artistry.P.S. In 2011, I translated this film and put the subtitles into .srt format. srt subtitles can be loaded into Video Lan Player (free download). Now, if you can find a digital copy of the film, you can use the English subtitles. Search for Il_Piccolo_Diavolo The_Little_Devil.srt Enjoy.

I saw this movie years ago in Europe. It has not been distributed in the U.S., but it should be. It is very funny, with Roberto Benigni and Walter Mathau together, some scenes are hilarious. If you like Roberto Benigni then pray that this movie comes out on video in the U.S. soon!!!

If you enjoyed other Benigni's works, this movie is your start point to Benigni's world. The story: A little Devil escapes from hell and, after an exorcism, becomes friend of a priest (Walter Matthau). He is only 400 years old and knows nothing about world, sex and so on. Thousands of gags and the little melancholy you can find in "life is beautiful" and "the monster".