Cops and Robbers

In Rome, Ferdinando gets by on small swindles; he is caught selling a fake antique to an American tourist. The policeman Bottoni chases him and cannot catch him. Bottoni is in danger of losing his job: if he does not find the man he will be dismissed. He finds Ferdinando's house and meets his family. Both men are struggling to get by, both have children, and both are inside the same poverty. The policeman becomes the thief's friend. Steno directs with Mario Monicelli. Totò plays Ferdinando and Aldo Fabrizi plays Bottoni. The idea is that both stand in the same place: the man enforcing the law and the man running from it are in the same economic corner, and the film vindicates neither. It is one of the founding works of postwar Italian comedy. The places and the poverty of neorealism remain while the telling is turned to comedy; that combination became the basis of what was later called comedy Italian style. It won an award for its screenplay at the Cannes film festival in 1952. Totò is Italy's best known comedian and this is among his most measured performances, while Aldo Fabrizi carries the dramatic side. The final section leaves comedy behind and resolves the position of the two men bitterly. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Italian comedy and postwar European cinema. Who it is not for: the prints may be worn, the humour is of its time, and the pace is slow.