Let's talk about food !
First of all there's « haute cuisine ». Everything is thought over, planned, balanced. A feast of senses which has a certain price.
There are « small » restaurants, unformal and friendly. Traditional food, patiently cooked. It Provides pleasure and is affordable.
Fast food, which is most of the time not so fast and no so food, but is cheap. You don't « eat » but are fed.
Eventually, there's what poor people eat when they have nothing on their plate, if they have a plate : bread.
But bread can be excellent !
When Comencini started to work on « Pane, amore e fantasia », he had already shot 5 very different movies and really felt like shooting something more « serious ». His initial project was way more ironical and critical, especially against the « carabinieri ». Due to financial problems the movie became a light comedy but met with huge success.
The pitch is quite thin : love, as usual. A carabinieri officer is appointed in a small village. He is a bachelor and a womanizer. There, he falls for the "Bersagliera" (Gina Lollobrigida) who is in love with a dumb carabinieri. Eventually, the aging officer, after some turns of events, will choose the village's midwife.
With such a simpistic plot, we can wonder where the charm of the movie comes from.
First of all, from its deep and sincere gaiety, which is something most, if not all the current movies lack. Funny movies are still made, as well as buddy movies meant to make us happy. Happy but not joyful, as only children, mentally defficient persons or very poor people can be. This gaiety is a luxury that rich people like us can't afford. We always have something in the back of our mind.
Secondly, it is first-degree cinema where cynicism doesn't exist. It is so relaxing !
Third : Gina Lollobrigida is a sight for sore eyes. It is nicely and lightly erotic, which may sound outdated in a time when you can watch hard-porn in one click. But, as François Truffaut used to say : »When everything is possible, nothing is important anymore ! ».
Honestly, I don't know if this kind of movie can still be watched and enjoyed, though it is refreshing indeed.
Kubrick or Bergman, Ozu or Antonioni don 't deal with this dime-store stories. They are interested in « haute cuisine ». But you can't have this kind of food everyday if you don't want indigestion.
This movie deals with simple people and basic food.
« What are you having ? » the officer asks a man eating, sitting on a bench in the village. « Bread ! » He says. « What do you put in your bread ? » asks the officer. « Dreams ! » replies the man, bursting out laughing.
What an excellent summary ! When you aren't rich enough, laughter, gaiety can replace what you can't buy. After all, with sex, they are still the only affordable pleasures for everybody.
