Bianco, rosso e Verdone

An Italian comedy set on the days before an election. The film tells three journeys in parallel. The reason is the same for all three: they must go home to vote. The first is Furio. He sets off by car with his wife and children. He has planned everything: where they will stop and at what hour, which filling station, how many minutes it will take. He talks constantly, explains constantly, and his wife endures in silence. The second is Mimmo, going from Milan to Rome with his grandmother. The young man is timid, obliging and says yes to everything; the old woman runs the journey as she sees fit. The third is Pasquale, a worker living in Germany who drives down to Italy and meets every possible misfortune on the way. He barely speaks. Carlo Verdone plays all three. The humour rests on observation: the characters are not exaggerated but familiar. In Italy these types became permanent and their lines passed into everyday speech. Carlo Verdone directed; it is his second film. Sergio Leone was one of the producers. Elena Fabrizi, who plays the grandmother, was not a professional actor and became known for the part. An enjoyable production for anyone who likes the Italian comic tradition and road films. For a viewer watching with subtitles, a good deal of the humour depends on local accents.