Brancaleone at the Crusades

In the Middle Ages the hopeless knight Brancaleone da Norcia decides to travel to Jerusalem to have his sins forgiven. A crowd of uncertain provenance follows him, and every obstacle on the road makes his plan more absurd. Even Death turns up to negotiate with him. The film is not interested in the history of the Crusades. It is interested in demolishing the idea of heroism: Brancaleone is not brave, only stubborn, and the people following him carry hunger rather than faith. The Middle Ages are drawn not as epic but as a muddy, starving period. The form is built on an invented language. The speech in these films is an artificial tongue created by the writers, mixing Latin with Italian dialects, and it became one of the most imitated inventions in Italian comedy. Mario Monicelli directed; this is the sequel to L'armata Brancaleone from 1966. Vittorio Gassman returned in the role and the character became a permanent figure in Italy. Who it is for: viewers who like comedy Italian style and historical parody. Who it is not for: anyone relying on subtitles. A large part of the humour comes from the invented language and is inevitably lost in translation.