Misunderstood

Since 1966, when I watched for the first time the beautiful "Incompreso - Misunderstood" of Luigi Comencini, I was moved to tears. I was 9 yo, had already red the book of Florence Montgomery and I was a little bit disappointed that Comencini had turned the story in Italy, in Florence, and adapted all the situations. During next years I grew up and I understood that the choice of Comencini was correct. I was always fascinated by the performance of Andrea (Humphrey), "actor" Stefano Colagrande... we are nearly the same age and I really felt in myself the same children's anxieties and passions that he shows so well, and acts perfectly, in this movie. I'm very glad that, thanks to internet, I found where Stefano Colagrande, who didn't act anymore, is today, and which is his job: he's a great Physician, and he's a Professor at the University of Florence. Sometimes life is grateful with sensitive persons! Thanks a lot for what you gave me, Doctor Stefano! GP

In the history of professional film-making,death of a charming family member is a serious yet innocent theme.It is a common knowledge that an amateur director will butcher the look and shape of the film by turning it into a shameless tear jerker.But things would surely be different if the same matter is passed on to a veteran cinéaste.In the hands of versatile Italian director Luigi Comencini death of a family member theme has become a film almost close to a masterpiece.He has shown that his film has no place for melodrama as he depicts human side of people who cope up with the death of a family member.This sad event has been portrayed in the character of a diplomat who has to look after his two young sons after the demise of his wife.Incompreso is an Italian film about the intellectual growth of people both young and old alike who have to face their daily lives in the wake of a death in their midst.Comencini must be felicitated for the manner in which he portrays how life goes on as people must become strong even if there is a somber event of death around.This is because there is nothing in this world for weak people. Everybody must find own ways of dealing with the loss of family members.This is the only sensible message of this film.

In terms of status, Italian director Luigi Comencini reminds me of his American contemporary Sydney Lumet : as a director, he would embark in equal proportion into projects that were his very personal and others which were more like a studio contract thing. Yet (and that too is true of both directors), all along his fifty-year career, he has shown a remarkable ability to make personal, ambitious projects highly entertaining for millions of spectators, while on the other hand imprinting his unmistakable touch on projects that were meant by producers to be for the standard production. In other terms - and that again is true of both Lumet and Comencini - he's been, for more than fifty years, walking the tightrope between art and entertainment with outstanding virtuosity.

Incompreso, now... Well, Incompreso is not only an excellent movie. It is not only one of the many, many proofs that popular entertainment made in Cinecittà during the Golden Age (1950-1980) is exactly as outstanding, and perhaps even more, than all the "great-author" films that critics (including American critics, when it comes to Europe) automatically favor, while ignoring completely - back then, at least - the marvels of popular movie entertainment. Incompreso is not only one of the best movies ever made about childhood. It is not only one of Luigi Comencini's greatest achievements outside of "commedia all'italiana", the tragicomic new genre of which he was one of the three Grand Masters (the two others being Risi and Monicelli).

Incompreso is more than all this because all this - all that I have said so far - is about classification, status, polemics with those darned intellectuals, etc, the will to save a dream-come-true cinematography that was tragically underestimated not only abroad but in Italy as well - the country that for decades showed the greatest gap of all between the tastes of the critics and those of the public. All these are my personal axes to grind. But now, you must forget about this, and concentrate on watching Incompreso.

When you will watch Incompreso, and I know you will, something will happen to your heart : at some point, you will feel it cracking and you won't be able to help it. And then it will crack some more. Near the unforgettable conclusion, it will fall on the ground in thousands of little pieces. But unlike so many other melodramas, this one refrains from using one single cheap trick. I mean it. It never tricks the spectator into crying. The crying comes only too naturally, with no strings attached or pulled.

Luigi Comencini's Incompreso is the most intense, the most powerful, the most poignant melodrama ever put to screen. And ever means ever. Straight from the heart, straight to the heart, without one single cheap trick. Why use artificial tricks that treat spectators like puppets, while simple reality is enough to reach to their heart? Childhood is the best of times, childhood is the worse of times : both are equally true at the same time and there is nothing we can do to change this.

As a movie-goer, I feel deeply indebted to Mr. Comencini. But the children in me loves him even more. Thanks to the many french-speaking TV channels of my country (Canada), I grew up with the best movie ever made FOR kids, in six perfect episodes of 52 minutes each : Luigi Comencini's Le Avventure di Pinocchio, which made me laugh so much. Then I saw the best movie ever made ABOUT kids : Luigi Comencini's Incompreso - and I cried a river.

Luigi Comencini is 90 years old.

It is a bit slow moving at first, but well worth the wait! The acting is GREAT! The story is realistic (which accounts for it being a bit slow). Stefano Colagrande (Andrew) does such a good job, it makes me wonder why his acting career was so short. The movie is about how Andrew's father misunderstands him, because Andrew seems to have no emotion when sad events take place, the main one being his mothers death. Andrew also misunderstands his fathers feelings toward him, as dad only seems to care about Miles (Andrew's little brother). The ending is very quick but very precious! A wake up call for parents of a cold nature!

"Sir John" (Anthony Quayle) is Her Majesty's consul in Florence. It's a job that comes with a gorgeous villa in a city of beauty and history that is home to his family. It's when a tragedy impacts on that family that he must come to terms with his own loss and continue to support his two young sons. "Andrea" (Stefano Colagrande) is the elder of the two and has been taken into his father's confidence, "Milo" (Simone Giannozzi) is much younger and so is initially left only knowing that their mum is away. These two lads get on like an house on fire, and have some considerable joy winding up their new nanny "Luisa" (Adriana Facchetti) who seems to insist that "Milo" spend as much of his time in bed as he can. Eventually, they manage to drive her to the door, but along the way it becomes clear to us that their father appears to favour his younger son. "Milo" is at an age where he wants to tag along to everything his brother does, and inevitably that causes some trouble for which "Andrea" usually gets the blame - just ask the bus driver or the mischievous "Uncle Wili" (John Sharp). Aware that he is becoming a little distant from "Andrea", the diplomat attempts to spend more time with him, and it's now that it we truly appreciate just how much this youngster adores his dad - but does his dad? This is certainly one of Quayle's more personable performances. Sure, he has the usual imperiousness, but he also exudes a rarely seen softer side as the story evolves. That said, the film belongs, entirely, to the two kids. They bring a wonderfully and engaging naturalness to their personas. It is quite possible that they really are brothers, and work effortlessly together - even when the younger is being a pain and the elder is seeking something more meaningful with his father. Their dialogue, and occasionally some of the direction, reminds us that their is recent grief to be dealt with, but that is very subtly expressed by a triumvirate of characters who are dealing, as best they can, with the hand fate has dealt them - but without always understanding just how this has affected the others. For a change, a film set in this finest of Italian cities doesn't dwell on the location at all, they could be anywhere, it's all about these three and though I really, really, did not like the conclusion at all, I really did enjoy the film.