La tigre e la neve (2005)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Roberto Benigni

Writers:

Roberto Benigni (writer)
Vincenzo Cerami (writer)

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

A love-struck Italian poet is stuck in Iraq at the onset of an American invasion.

Plot Keywords:

Poet | Iraq | Champagne | Local Blockbuster | Directed By Star

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Roberto Benigni	...	Attilio de Giovanni
Jean Reno	...	Fuad
Nicoletta Braschi	...	Vittoria
Tom Waits	...	Himself / Sè stesso
Emilia Fox	...	Nancy Browning
Gianfranco Varetto	...	Avvocato Scuotilancia
Giuseppe Battiston	...	Ermanno
Lucia Poli	...	Signora Serao
Chiara Pirri	...	Emilia
Anna Pirri	...	Rosa
Andrea Renzi	...	Dottor Guazzelli
Abdelhafid Metalsi	...	Dottore Salman
Amid Farid	...	Al Giumeil
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Israel Aduramo	...	Soldato americano
Mohmed Hedi Bahri	...	Firas scarpe
Franco Barbero
Mohamed Malek Bchatnia	...	Ladro bazar
Steven Beckingham	...	First Sergeant
Ahmed Ben Massoud	...	Vecchio campo minato
David Birkin	...	US Marine
Jorge Luis Borges	...	Himself (archive footage)
Spartaco Calanchini
Simone Carella
Donato Castellaneta
Alexis Conran	...	Private Roadblock
Francesca Cutolo	...	Carla
Francesco De Vito	...	Valeri
Wahjda Dridi	...	Salwa
Stefania Frangipani	...	Fiorala
Simone Gandolfo	...	Poliziutte aeroporto
Ida Grieco	...	Signora zebra
Derek Hagen	...	Soldato americano
Enrico Iannello	...	Poliziutte aeroporto
Enrico Innocenti Barduzzi	...	Poliziutte aeroporto
Laarbi Kmiri	...	Prisoniere
Jonah Lotan	...	American Soldier
Feriel Madaoui	...	Bambino
Susanna Marcomeni
Noah Lee Margetts	...	Private Roadblock (as Noah Margetts)
Rosa Matteucci	...	Presentatrice
Mark McKerracher	...	American Officer
Franco Mescolini
Daniele Miglio	...	Studente
Abdelkader Mokdad	...	Pedrone Scarpe
Eugenio Montale	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jeffery Gordon Pedersen	...	Soldato americano
Jeff Peterson	...	American Soldier
Javone Prince	...	Soldato americano
Adel Rabah	...	Abbas Scarpe
Martin Sherman	...	Soldato americano
Peter Swander	...	Trembling Soldier
Giuseppe Ungaretti	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mariella Valentini
Marguerite Yourcenar	...	Herself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

The Tiger and the Snow (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

114 min | USA:110 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian | Arabic | English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:MG6 | Malaysia:U | Sweden:15 | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | South Korea:12

Filming Locations:

Naples, Campania, Italy

Company:

Melampo Cinematografica

Trivia:

Roberto Benigni named his character "Attilio" as a tribute to poet Attilio Bertolucci (1911-2000) father of famous directors Giuseppe and Bernardo Bertolucci.

Quotes:

Attilio de Giovanni: I told myself: "There must be people whose job it is to use the right words, put things in a way... who when their heart beats, can get other people's hearts to beat."
Attilio de Giovanni: That day I decided to become a poet.

Movie Connections:

Features Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Granada

(The) Beautiful, (the) Gripping and (the) Hilarious

After the Holocaust, Roberto Benigni tackles a more recent but still tricky subject: the second Gulf War.And just like he did with his masterpiece, La Vita è Bella, he perfectly mixes comedy and tragedy, telling a story about love, life and death.

The first half-hour is 100% comedy, as we see Attilio de Giovanni(Benigni) take care of his teenage daughters, teach poetry at university, befriend a camel and desperately woo a woman, Vittoria (Nicoletta Braschi).There's even time for a really funny Sergio Leone homage. The trouble begins when Vittoria is dying in a hospital in Baghdad during the war (she went to Iraq to write a book), and Attilio tries to save her life with the help of his friend and fellow poet Fuad (Jean Reno, whose Italian is remarkably good).Expect a race against the clock stuffed with some incredibly funny material: more camels, Attilio praying Allah (one of the highlights) and even getting caught by American troops because suspected of being a suicide-bomber ("I am Italian" is what he keeps screaming during said scene).

There are a few plot holes (mostly concerning Fuad and his final scene,which has no explanation), but luckily the movie works anyway. Benigni has lost none of his vitality, and he uses all of it in this great picture reminiscent of Chaplin's best films (there's an explicit reference to City Lights).

Poetic and unbelievably beautiful, not to mention really funny, it's a must-see for lovers of European cinema throughout the world.

8,5/10