Fantastic!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Mario Monicelli is definitely one of the greatest directors of Italian cinema and Alberto Sordi is an absolute Genius. Here they team up again...And what a great fun it was to discover this less known little gem of the early eighties! Sordi is an atypical and fanciful aristocrat who plays the fool to forget the emptiness and uselessness of his own life in the context of french Napoleonic troops invading Italy, bringing along a few revolutionary ideas...It's a light, refreshing and very enjoyable comedy, addressing some very serious and deep questions like the power of the Catholic Church and the Pope, the aristocrats' privileges, justice, corruption, forgiveness and much more. There is even a delicious part where a coal cutter is being mistaken as the marquis, Sordi having great fun playing both roles...Indeed you can watch it many times and you will be amazed how fun and deep this movie can be.

The logic in the editing is completely broken. There is inconsistency and it's hard to follow the story... actually there is no story other than episodes the director tried to make up together to create a film, but this is just a nice try. As example, the scene of the witch dancing around the fire ends with Sordi in company of the french guy at night: next scene, for no reason show Sordi playing cards. What's the editor was thinking? what's the point of this cut? none. just dumb. Alberto Sordi has lost all his aura. Sordi while was great in the b&w movies form the 50' and 60' now seems lost trying to auto-reference himself and the "roman-ity" but with weak results. Overall a terrible movie that should be erased from Sordi career.

Once somebody asked Robert De Niro who was the actor that inspired him the most. The legendary actor's answer was "Alberto Sordi".The same somebody asked the same question to Jain Maria Volonte'.The answer was ,You have guessed it,the same. The Roman actor is surely the greatest Italy ever produced, and this movie is the perfect example of the power and purity of Sordi's acting. The Marchese antics are well known in Rome,told in endless jokes and stories.Monicelli takes all these stories and makes a fusion in order to create the perfect screenplay.The only thing one could not like about the story is the fact that the Marchese character is so large that almost all the others are left to play in the background.But again the Marchese was indeed larger that life! The only actor that could play the main role had to be Sordi.No one could have portrayed the Marchese so well.And no one could have played two characters so well.Because one must not forget Gasperio er carbonaro. The red neck carbon dealer is even funnier than the Marchese.Sordi shows what acting is all about when wearing the dirty clothes of the drunken Gasperino.The scene where Gasperino is woken by the Marchese trusty butler has to be one of the funniest ever. Overall the movie is a classic.If one is a fan of Italian comedy,this movie is a must see.If one also loves Sordi,then the movie is indeed a gem.

Il "Marchese del Grillo" is an incredibly enjoying movie,Alberto Sordi is absolutely a "maestro" of acting.He portrays his character in a really smashing way.You can realize better and agree with what I'm saying,if you can understand the Roman dialect,as I do.Alberto is great not only because he depicts this really existed character in a very convincing way ,but he also adds fun to the movie through the creation of Gasperino,the drunken coal seller. I think that all those American actors of Italian origins should understand and recognize that he's really their own "maestro" too. In a few words Alberto represents for the world of the cinema what Dante Alighieri still represents for the world literature Apart from our big Alberto,I must also praise the performance of the rest of the cast and the wise direction of Mario Monicelli.According to me he's the only director in the world who has always succeeded in depicting in a very faithful and convincing manner different historical periods of my country, that's Italy.