Bread and Chocolate

Bread and Chocolate is an excellent Italian comedy about an Italian immigrant to Switzerland (Nino Manfredi) who wants to make it big, and bring his family to Switzerland. He is a sort of everyman, but with the world's worst luck. He strikes out at everything he tries, from landing a full-time job as a waiter, to chicken plucking. He is a gentle soul, but not as classy as the company he would like to keep, yet too sophisticated and ambitious to return to poverty in Italy. There is a little slapstick, and there are many humorous situations. Although it is a comedy, you care deeply about the character before the film is over.

NUDITY REPORT

Two women show breasts, in what are totally gratuitous nude scenes. The first is Nelide Giammarco, who is a hooker sunbathing in the home of a wealthy industrialist whom Manfredi nearly lands a job with. The second is an unidentified blonde who is sunbathing at the chicken ranch.

DVD info from Amazon.

The film won a host of international awards. The spoken language is mostly Italian. Most of the Italian is translated into English subtitles. The transfer is mostly overexposed, but despite these faults, I enjoyed the film very much.

The Critics Vote

no reviews online

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDB readers score this highly-regarded film 7.8/10

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C+