A group of extraordinary comic actors in one of the most anarchic and surreal films ever produced in Italy
An unrepeatable, historic and surprisingly contemporary film
“An unrepeatable film, and in its own way a historic one” (Marco Giusti). Il pap’occhio brings the surreal and raucous group of actors assembled by Renzo Arbore for his hugely successful TV show L’altra domenica to the big screen. It is a parade of cult figures who changed the face of Italian comedy: Mario Marenco, the Bandiera sisters, Andy Luotto… and above all Roberto Benigni, who gives a brilliant monologue on “the end of the world”. The film also features appearances by Isabella Rossellini and Martin Scorsese. Stuffed with elusive quotations, from Fellini to Chaplin, from Hitchcock to the Marx Brothers, sprinkled with cutting political allusions, and so enlightened by the Holy Scriptures that it allows itself to make fun of its sacred subject matter (the film was accused of blasphemy and censored), Il pap’occhio is anything but a cohesive and balanced film. It is a purposefully jumbled and anarchic work, an irresistible document of a bygone era that in many ways appears extraordinarily contemporary.
Pope John Paul II hires Renzo Arbore to host the new Vatican State TV station. Despite attempts by a treacherous cardinal to sabotage the project, the initiative is a success. However, certain unorthodox editorial decisions cause a scandal. In the end, God himself will have to deal with the situation, erupting into the studio in a Fiat Panda.
A group of extraordinary comic actors in one of the most anarchic and surreal films ever produced in Italy
An unrepeatable, historic and surprisingly contemporary film
“An unrepeatable film, and in its own way a historic one” (Marco Giusti). Il pap’occhio brings the surreal and raucous group of actors assembled by Renzo Arbore for his hugely successful TV show L’altra domenica to the big screen. It is a parade of cult figures who changed the face of Italian comedy: Mario Marenco, the Bandiera sisters, Andy Luotto… and above all Roberto Benigni, who gives a brilliant monologue on “the end of the world”. The film also features appearances by Isabella Rossellini and Martin Scorsese. Stuffed with elusive quotations, from Fellini to Chaplin, from Hitchcock to the Marx Brothers, sprinkled with cutting political allusions, and so enlightened by the Holy Scriptures that it allows itself to make fun of its sacred subject matter (the film was accused of blasphemy and censored), Il pap’occhio is anything but a cohesive and balanced film. It is a purposefully jumbled and anarchic work, an irresistible document of a bygone era that in many ways appears extraordinarily contemporary.
Pope John Paul II hires Renzo Arbore to host the new Vatican State TV station. Despite attempts by a treacherous cardinal to sabotage the project, the initiative is a success. However, certain unorthodox editorial decisions cause a scandal. In the end, God himself will have to deal with the situation, erupting into the studio in a Fiat Panda.
