EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Armand nice, sad, predictable. gray, salted, seductive. a great cast. an ordinary story. crumbs from Visit of Old lady. and scene for extraordinary performance. a film about laws of poverty and people as toys. about power, cruelty and different worlds. about a game as root of so many feelings, emotions, hopes. and about the cold death of dreams. it can be a parable. or slice from reality. in fact, it is itself. a picture of a place. few characters. Bette Davis , Silvana Mangano , Joseph Cotten and irresistible Alberto Sordi around a table, playing cards. so, a meeting. a rite. shadow of life ashes. and strange image about your world. because it can be, in many senses, a manifesto. not about sins or fall, but about borders of gestures. cold, nice, seductive, bitter. a source of reflection. and testimony about a way without end.

albertoveronese A masterpiece from Luigi Comencini. Another masterpiece of an unrestrained cinema that was (for a very long time) inspired and remarkable; Full, alike life... alike a work of art. Luigi Comencini's 'Lo Scopone Scientifico' is entertaining, funny, touching but also sharp, intelligent and intensely sad; it reflects the conditions of many of us: defeat, ignorance and inequality. It's a radiography on how persistent poverty creates a self-perpetuating cycle within the impoverished classes. It speaks of today's democratic societies! Check it out! You'll be amazed how much (today!) you can read out of this movie...Do you know what happens at this very exact time in our history? I'll say it again, check it out, watch this film, you'll know it. Wake up Folks!

kristen Skullerud Another of those Alberto Sordi black comedy's which reveals his acting excellence ! As usual it always the poor,humble and(too) honest Italian trying to get rich the easy way,(to satisfy more his wife's ambitions than his own) but his efforts has disastrous consequences !! As the previous commentator wrote, it is the usual fable of the little Italian who 'dares' to challenge the high and mighty, but ultimately fails miserably.....the moral being everyone must remain to their stations, if you're born poor don't reckon you can fight the rich and get away with it !A typical Italian way thinking especially in the 1950's and 60's. The quality of this film is only further confirmed by the presence of such high calibre Anglo-American artists as Bette Davis and Joseph Cotton.Surely they would never play in a rubbish European film ! European films (as all U.S. actors know) pay poorly , bur often offer great roles....surely good for their future careers ! A great film....but best appreciated if you are familiar with South European more's and culture.A 8 vote from me.

dbdumonteil The cast for this fable is fabulous:two great American actors ,Joseph Cotten and Bette Davis,two great Italian ones:Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano. Pepino and Antonia ,two Italian proles are waiting,every summer,for "the old lady",a wealthy and disabled American in order to fleece her.How? By playing cards with her in a game called "lo scopino scientifico= the scientific broom sweep" We 'll never know the name of "the old lady".They always refer to her like that.In fact ,she epitomizes capitalism.Bette Davis is wonderful and sadistically smiling all the way.Always with him,an old beau(her former lover?)whom she enjoys humiliating(brilliant Cotten). Against the Money Goddess,two miserable wops,(pitiful Sordi and authoritarian Mangano) always short of the readies,to whom the old one is always compelled to lend some dough to begin a game. And a game that will be the funniest ever filmed:the Italians begin to win,they win more,more and more and they want to call it a day?But the old woman is not prepared to accept it.She wants to play more,even after a heart attack!There's the rub:the money game is allowed to these who can go on and on indefinitely.That's Pepino and Antonia's downfall.They lose everything. As always in Luigi Comencini's movies,children are wiser than their parents.Cleopatra ,Pépino's elder daughter realizes that it's a foolish game,what can do two proles against the most powerful bank ?You've got to refuse such a game and start a realist fight.As far the Old Lady is concerned,Cleopatra will opt for the final solution,and,maybe ,her parents will come back to solidarity with their fellows. This is a must-see.This is a comedy of the first order,sometimes verging on tragedy ,Luigi Comencini equals Billy Wilder here,that means a lot!