The Great War (1959 film)

The Great War
(La Grande Guerra)
Italian film poster
Directed byMario Monicelli
Written byAgenore Incrocci,
Mario Monicelli,
Furio Scarpelli,
Luciano Vincenzoni
Produced byDino De Laurentiis
StarringAlberto Sordi
Vittorio Gassman
Folco Lulli
Bernard Blier
Romolo Valli
Silvana Mangano
CinematographyGiuseppe Rotunno
Leonida Barboni
Roberto Gerardi
Giuseppe Serrandi
Edited byAdriana Novelli
Music byNino Rota
Release date
  • September 1959 (1959-09) (premiere at VFF)
Running time
135 minutes
CountriesItaly
France
LanguageItalian

The Great War (Italian: La grande guerra) is a 1959 Italian comedy-drama war film directed by Mario Monicelli. It tells the story of an odd couple of army buddies in World War I; the movie, while played on a comedic register, does not hide from the viewer the horrors and grimness of trench warfare. Starring Alberto Sordi and Vittorio Gassman and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, the film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Its crew also included Danilo Donati (costumes) and Mario Garbuglia (set designer).

It was an Academy Award nominee as Best Foreign Film.[1] In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[2] It won huge success outside Italy, especially in France.

  1. ^ "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
  2. ^ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2021-03-11.