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Totally unawares, Saverio, a teacher and Mario, a janitor of the same school in which they both work, travel back in time and find themselves in central Italy at the end of the 15th century. They carry with them an unresolved squabble concerning Saverio's sister, creating a lot of tension between the two, which will increase in the plot. From this moment on they will have to come to grips with the grotesque situation they find themselves in, trying to "hitch a lift" back to the future in a most outlandish way, using and misusing their foresight of the events taking place round that time, and generally making fools of themselves in the eyes of "normal" renaissance folks. Their meeting with Leonardo da Vinci is hysterical, when they become more and more convinced that the genius is in reality a moron. Another character they meet is Savonarola the heretic, who enjoins them to repent, before he is taken to the stake, eliciting some breezy comment from them. If it weren't for a weird kind of homesickness, they would quite enjoy living in this period, full of daring fashions and tantalising damsels.

The couple shows great chemistry and is funny in every respect. The psychology of their characters is complex and credible - for once comical roles with a depth. Basically, Saverio is an embittered petit-bourgeois forever attracted and rejected by women, envious of Mario, an easy-going proletarian every woman falls in love with. Saverio is scheming, mean and vindictive as much as Mario is naive, generous and forgiving. What a match of talents: Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi at the peak of combined creativity. Too bad they will never come back together for another joint venture. Or maybe it is better this way: masterpieces of this level cannot be improved on, at best they can be imitated. For this reason Non ci resta che piangere will shine like a gem in the crown of the best Italian movies of all times. Sadly not many people seem to have seen it, not even in Italy, where the viewers do not need subtitles to enjoy the hilarious juggling of the two actors with the language, but their body language can be universally appreciated.

If you miss it you will have to repent!

Benigni is capable of doing better (La vita è bella), but he can do worse, too (Pinocchio). This is a middle-of-the-road Benigni film, in my opinion. He is playing the clown - his favourite role - with great skill. However he is less than convincing in the dramatic bits. In this he is not helped by his obduracy in casting Mrs. Benigni as the female lead in ALL of his movies. Nicoletta Braschi is a weird liability - she can't act and that's it. Her performance in Life is Beautiful was just about passable (there are far better all-round Italian actresses, Marina Massironi to name just one, who would have made the character unforgettable).

Another great weakness in the script of La tigre e la neve are the cardboard characters; all except the protagonist, that is. The Arab doctor seems to be forever available to Attilio's whims, as if he - an emergency worker - didn't have enough in his hands already.

And what a waste of talents. The pretty Emilia Fox is sacrificed in a marginal, although potentially spicy role, the always magnetic Lucia Poli should have been given a more incisive part and I suspect Jean Reno is hitting himself on the head for accepting to be in the film. Benigni seems to be too much of a spotlight chaser, even as a scriptwriter, to give a fig about his colleagues.

On the plus side, Benigni's comical genius shines in comical situations such as Attilio's wooing of Vittoria in his flat, or his sudden appearance in Iraq as a Red Cross "doctor". However, some of the slapstick is so predictable that it is almost painful to watch (the gags about the suicide bomber and the mine field, for example), while some of it is plain irritating (the stalking - no laughing matter).

The choice of Tunisia, a north African country, as surrogate for the Iraqi background is bizarre: personally I have never been to Iraq, and I wonder if landscape, costumes, architecture, décor, souks are just the same, and if camels are that widespread. I also wonder if Jean Reno's Iraqi Arabic is convincing...

I look forward to another strong Benigni's achievement along the lines of La vita è Bella or his absolute masterpiece, in my opinion: Non ci resta che piangere (Nothing Left to Do but Cry).