The Little Devil

It's crazy, it's hilarious, it's grotesque and it's at least pure fun. The combination of Matthau's stoical yet strained mimics with Benigni's clownesque and provocative acting is one of the most surprising comedies from Italy ever. But it's not just pure comedy, it's definitely a satiric assault on religion, social behaviour and some more holy cows. Even more, it's incredible, how Matthau and Benigni are acting - and interacting. I'll bet that you've never seen Matthau look closer to desperation since The Odd Couple. And Lemmon was a sheer blessing compared to what he is confronted with here. And I still wonder how they ever managed to produce this movie. Anyway, catch this devil if you can, you won't regret it!

If you enjoyed other Benigni's works, this movie is your start point to Benigni's world. The story: A little Devil escapes from hell and, after an exorcism, becomes friend of a priest (Walter Matthau). He is only 400 years old and knows nothing about world, sex and so on. Thousands of gags and the little melancholy you can find in "life is beautiful" and "the monster".

After partnering with Massimo Troisi in "Nothing left to do but cry", this time Benigni sought out the veteran Walter Matthau to play opposite in this "Little devil", who is, of course, himself, in almost all of his films but here literally.

A Benigni devil on the loose, after being exorcised by Father Matthau. An assumption that serves wonderfully for the comedian, director and co-writer to give vent to his madness, first in the convent and then through the streets of beautiful Taormina.

The script has imbalances and inconsistencies, but what matters is the fun, which is a lot, especially when Benigni finally finds his soul mate, the inevitable Nicoletta Braschi, who also has a delightful character.

My wife Dani turned me on to this film and it has to be one of the funniest films I've ever seen in my life! The shame is that it is so difficult to find ....we only managed to find a rental copy in Curitiba, Brasil and a German language version via Amazon.com.de (Germany). Why is it that the US and UK distributors do not carry it? We think that it is his best film and by the way, one of Walter Matthau's finest and funniest performances!

I saw this movie years ago in Europe. It has not been distributed in the U.S., but it should be. It is very funny, with Roberto Benigni and Walter Mathau together, some scenes are hilarious. If you like Roberto Benigni then pray that this movie comes out on video in the U.S. soon!!!