Cops and Robbers

Cops and Robbers (Guardie e ladri) is a 1951 Italian film directed by Mario Monicelli (1915–2010, considered one of the greatest Italian comedy directors) and Steno (1915–1988, Steno was the stage name of Stefano Vanzina).

The film is categorized on IMDb as a Comedy and Drama.

It is considered part of the Italian neorealist cinema movement. This refers to the post-war cinema that spanned from 1945 until approximately the early 1960s. Neorealism shows social reality as something one must commit to, raising issues that demand reflection (Rossellini).
At the same time, it is classified within the genre known as Commedia all'italiana, an Italian film genre that lasted from the early 1950s to the early 1980s.

It won the Best Screenplay award (Pietro Tellini) at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.
The plot revolves around a thief (Totò, Antonio de Curtis) who robs tourists and has the bad luck of crossing paths again with one of his victims—an American—who pursues him alongside a police officer (Aldo Fabrizi). The officer catches him, but the thief manages to escape. The chief of police informs the officer that he is suspended and will face prosecution in thirty days unless he recaptures the thief who escaped within that timeframe. Thus, he begins a personal search.

At first, the film feels quite naive, almost crude, and somewhat childish. However, a few aspects should be kept in mind: the translation issue—perhaps watching it with subtitles in the original language changes things. It is also worth considering that both lead actors are comedic professionals. Even the supporting cast delivers good performances, especially the wives of both main characters and the children.

Later, the film takes a turn, and the acting becomes more believable; there is a shift in tone, which occurs after the foot chase.

The foot chase is somewhat strange: it features an overweight police officer who naturally runs slowly, chasing an older and potentially ill thief who also runs slowly. The same applies to the secondary characters involved.

One must consider that the events take place in post-war Italy, while the Marshall Plan is in effect across Europe. The American influence can be seen through the robbery victim, the distribution of supplies to children, and the music the young woman listens to on the radio. Italy is in a period of reconstruction, and this is depicted throughout the film. Keep in mind that the children in the film were born almost entirely during the war.

It is interesting to observe life at that time: the way people dressed, the houses, the interior and exterior settings, the suburbs, the transition from the city to the surrounding areas, and the lives of ordinary people. In fact, everyone is of humble means—some could be considered middle class and others lower class. Everything that makes up the urban landscape—from car traffic and neighborhood soccer to the warehouses and the buildings (large, old structures, meaning four or five stories tall, but with high dimensions)—adds to the atmosphere.

During the foot chase, it is best to listen to it entirely in Italian; I enjoyed it more than the Spanish translation. It is far more enjoyable.

After the scene in the precinct office between the officer and his chief—which is, by the way, very good—the comedy shifts: the dialogues become more sophisticated, meaningful, and elaborated. The situation transforms from that point on, marking, in my opinion, where the film truly gets good.

The musical score is also very appropriate for every scene—when the foot chase begins, when he enters his home, etc.

Something that caught my attention was when the police officer orders a coffee at the local neighborhood bar and it is served in a low, round cup. I wondered: was that custom at the time? Is it still served that way in some places? Did they simply not have any other cups? My only reference point is the coffee served today in any Buenos Aires cafe in 2014.

Another detail that caught my attention was the absence of handcuffs on the police officer; he used a chain instead. Was it really like that? Was that how police officers operated? Or was it just a comedic device to generate humor by pushing things to the absurd? I imagine traditional handcuffs used by a regular police officer—an indispensable fixture in American cinema—although nowadays, in 2014, some police forces can be seen using regular plastic zip ties during arrests.

Links to the movie page on FilmAffinity and IMDb: http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film935768.html http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043606/

This film is included in the "100 Italian Films to be Saved" list—a project created by Venice Days (Giornate degli Autori) at the Venice Film Festival. Its purpose is to record the "100 films that changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978," supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

Naturally, like any definitive list, it may have left out some other films, but it remains an added recognition for those selected and included on the list.

Link to the list of "100 Italian Films to be Saved": http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_film_italiani_da_salvare http://www.repubblica.it/popup/servizi/2008/lista_film/lista.html