Soap and Water

Rolando, an unemployed graduate, lives with his grandmother and works as a janitor at a religious school. Answering the phone one day, he ends up talking to a mother looking for a private tutor for her teenage model daughter, and on hearing the fee he introduces himself as a priest. The girl works out the deception quickly and, rather than expose him, becomes his accomplice. Carlo Verdone wrote, directed and took the lead in his fourth film as director. The comedy comes less from sustaining the impersonation than from Rolando growing accustomed to the collar: people treat him differently and he likes it. Natasha Hovey made her screen debut here, and Elena Fabrizi, playing the grandmother, won the David di Donatello for best supporting actress. The film finished twentieth at the Italian box office for the 1983-84 season. Its flaw is that the age of the girl and the way the relationship is framed are uncomfortable now, and some of the comedy repeats. Who it is for: fans of Italian comedy and of Verdone. Who it is not for: viewers who find the premise indefensible today.