There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

One of the best Italian comedies after the great cycle of the Sixties/Seventies, the film's greatest assets are its leads, Roberto Benigni before his Oscar days and the late, greatly missed Massimo Troisi.In this time-travel comedy the two main characters are magically transported to 1492. Saverio (Benigni), school teacher and history buff unhappy with his previous life, is ecstatic and strives to exploit the situation, while meek janitor Mario (Troisi) is terrified by violence, fanaticism and lack of hygiene.Benigni is hilariously vital and overbearing, jumping around as if hit by 10.000 volts; Troisi is priceless as the whiny, dejected fish out of water.The first two acts crackle with wit and inventions. The best moments occur when Saverio and Mario start exploring the town, the former pompously strutting around, the latter inching his way through the streets. There is a great homage to the letter scene of Totò, Peppino e la... Malafemmina, and a clever bit where the two ponder which modern inventions they could produce and desultorily conclude they could maybe manage to craft some sort of rudimentary toilet.Unfortunately, after a memorable encounter with an unexpectedly thick Leonardo da Vinci, the movie loses a bit of its comedic momentum - although the very ending is a stroke of genius.8/10

Great premise. Great writing. Great acting. A must for fans of both actor/writer/directors who acted in, wrote and co-directed this delightful fantasy. Who has not imagined what would have happened if the Europeans, in this case Christopher Columbus, had no interest in finding the new world or even a new route to India? It's a joy to watch these two men at work. Too bad it's not available in English. In any case, it's worth watching on DVD, so you can pause and replay until you get the subtleties of the writing and the performances. American producers have remade a number Italian classics and neo-classics (often botching the job). However I hope that somewhere within the US film industry there exists a producer/director/writer team capable of making an English language version of Non ci Resta che Piangere without losing its heart. If not, it just gives the rest of you yet another reason to learn Italian. Fair warning though. Troisi is not so easy to understand for those not somewhat used to hearing la lingua italiana as spoken in the outskirts of Naples (San Giorgio a Cremano).

Totally unawares, Saverio, a teacher and Mario, a janitor of the same school in which they both work, travel back in time and find themselves in central Italy at the end of the 15th century. They carry with them an unresolved squabble concerning Saverio's sister, creating a lot of tension between the two, which will increase in the plot. From this moment on they will have to come to grips with the grotesque situation they find themselves in, trying to "hitch a lift" back to the future in a most outlandish way, using and misusing their foresight of the events taking place round that time, and generally making fools of themselves in the eyes of "normal" renaissance folks. Their meeting with Leonardo da Vinci is hysterical, when they become more and more convinced that the genius is in reality a moron. Another character they meet is Savonarola the heretic, who enjoins them to repent, before he is taken to the stake, eliciting some breezy comment from them. If it weren't for a weird kind of homesickness, they would quite enjoy living in this period, full of daring fashions and tantalising damsels.The couple shows great chemistry and is funny in every respect. The psychology of their characters is complex and credible - for once comical roles with a depth. Basically, Saverio is an embittered petit-bourgeois forever attracted and rejected by women, envious of Mario, an easy-going proletarian every woman falls in love with. Saverio is scheming, mean and vindictive as much as Mario is naive, generous and forgiving. What a match of talents: Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi at the peak of combined creativity. Too bad they will never come back together for another joint venture. Or maybe it is better this way: masterpieces of this level cannot be improved on, at best they can be imitated. For this reason Non ci resta che piangere will shine like a gem in the crown of the best Italian movies of all times. Sadly not many people seem to have seen it, not even in Italy, where the viewers do not need subtitles to enjoy the hilarious juggling of the two actors with the language, but their body language can be universally appreciated.If you miss it you will have to repent!

Non ci resta che piangere is an amazing movie. The plot may seem a bit improvised, but that movie is much more than just an excuse for some hilarious gags. It contains all the philosophy of Benigni and Troisi, and presents all the different aspects and approach to life of Neapolitans and fiorentini personalities, away from stereotypes (as usual!). It is one of the funniest movies ever, and still, it makes me cry (maybe because I can't help thinking about Troisi, Napoli's best artist of the late XX century). It is a movie many people should see, but when I travel overseas I find it almost impossible to find in rental shops, or wherever.