The Country Boy

A man living a crammed life in Milan, worn down by traffic, noise and pressure at work, decides to move to the country. He settles his family into a house in the countryside. Then he learns that nothing is what he assumed: the village has its own rules, the neighbours are curious, and nature is not restful at all. The subject is not escape but escape being a fantasy. Leaving the city is offered as a solution at the start and demolished piece by piece; what the man finds in the country is not peace but a different kind of trouble. The form is Italian middle-class comedy: it proceeds in episodes, each built on a separate mishap, with a loose plot. The production brings together the best known pairing in Italian popular comedy of the eighties; Renato Pozzetto and Massimo Boldi appeared in film after film together in that period, and the genre became the basis of the comedies released in Italy over the new year season. Castellano and Pipolo directed, a writer-director team that worked together for many years. Who it is for: viewers who like Italian popular comedy and humour built on city against country. Who it is not for: viewers without the context; some jokes rest on Italian daily life of the period.