L'ARMATA BRANCALEONE
FOR LOVE AND GOLD
Mario Monicelli / Italy / 1966 / 120 min / Colour
In an extravagant and fictional medieval Italy, Brancaleone da Norcia, a vain knight of noble origins, finds himself in command of a band of braggarts. The ultimate goal is to conquer the fiefdom of Aurocastro in Puglia, which the ragged group comes into possession of after stealing a parchment from its rightful owner. Crossing the Peninsula, Brancaleone and his men face a series of adventures, always driven by presumed chivalric ideals and vainglory. From the very beginning they encounter bizarre characters, sack a city infested by the plague, save a girl in distress, join some pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem and, finally reaching the fiefdom, end up prisoners of Saracen pirates. Just when all seems lost, the Army is called to a greater task, that is, to join the crusade to liberate the Holy Sepulchre in the Holy Land.
Mario Monicelli
A director, screenwriter, and exponent of Italian comedy, he directed, among other films, Guardie e ladri (1951), I soliti ignoti (1958), La grande guerra (1959), winner of the Golden Lion in Venice, L'armata Brancaleone (1966) and Amici miei (1975). In 1957 he was awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival for Padri e figli. A six-time Oscar nominee, in 1991 he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival.
Credits
Screenplay Age & Scarpelli, Mario MonicelliCinematography Carlo Di PalmaEditing Ruggero MastroianniMusic Carlo RustichelliMain cast Vittorio Gassman, Gian Maria Volonté, Carlo Pisacane, Gianluigi Crescenzi, Ugo Fangareggi, Catherine Spaak:Producer Mario Cecchi GoriProduction company Fair Film
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