The fourth film of Carlo Verdone is another interesting result of the style of its actor-director. Verdone -who is considered by many people the heir of Alberto Sordi- offers an intelligent and never vulgar comedy, with good dialogs. An unemployed professor pretend to be a priest (from a catholic college) in order to get a job. He succeed in teaching a young girl, a young model...
"Acqua e sapone" has a very simple story, it's the story of two different worlds which meet. The interesting point is that the character of Carlo Verdone has to take another "identity" for getting in touch with the snubbish world of the girl and her family, and the girl has to "transform" herself each time in modeling... The film is a comedy but has sweet and sour moments. In an ordinary Hollywood comedy the classic happy end would have been compulsory. Not here (in European and in Italian comedies in particular there's always a mixture of jokes and sadness). The film contains the typical ingredients of the Verdone style: laughs, gags, and impossibility of reaching a quiet life. Another highlight of this movie (of a young Verdone) is the presence of Elena Fabrizi, "sora Lella" (the sister of Italian legendary actor Aldo Fabrizi). Her lines in Roman dialect are simply amazing!