Bread and Chocolate

1974 "You'll Laugh Till Your Heart Breaks"
Bread and Chocolate
7.5| 1h50m| en| More Info
Released: 05 May 1974 Released
Producted By: Verona Produzione
Country: Italy
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

An Italian immigrant tries to make a new life in Switzerland, taking on a series of increasingly menial jobs in order to do it. He attempts to fit into his new home and society but fails at every turn. Unable to go home again, will his tenacity and optimism be enough to live on?

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Reviews

gomulch If all the film-festival awards this movie has won haven't convinced you to see it, then my review probably will not either. Regardless, it is important to know how well-done this movie truly is. Nino Manfredi does an absolutely stellar performance as a poor Italian immigrant trying to fit in in a world which dislikes him and his kind. From the start, this seems like a regular enjoyable comedy, but quickly transitions into both a comedy and a drama. On the one-hand, Manfredi's Chaplinesque "loveable loser" character is both endearing and hilarious. On the other hand, the film offers true insight into the problem of immigrational bias and cultural dissimilarity, and a stabbing insight into the premise of a national identity; how it is both meaningless and yet extremely important. This film deserves every award it received and then some.
vun88 Great tale about the "joys" of being an immigrant in 70's Switzerland and being rejected from their society for anything other than for labor.It's all in the title, no connection to the popular "pane e Stella" Italian snack here, rather the bread is a metaphor for the immigrants who have little choice but working abroad to put bread on their families table, while the chocolate refers to the luxury Swiss product and symbolizes that country's wealth. It's bread and chocolate as in rich and poor, as in eating for survival as opposed to eating for pleasure, as in immigrant and swiss, etc.
James Weslowski (Turk-3) This is a warm, wonderful film. It is touching and funny and one of the very best "humanistic" films from Italy after Fellini lost his touch. It's hard to understand why this film is so little know to younger movie buffs. If you can find it, take a look!
delh1 I saw this film when it first came out and fell in love with it.Having spent some time in Switzerland, I knew the truth of the rejection of foreign workers, and I saw the places where they lived in great poverty, in the midst of rich, glittering inter- national crowds. The bigotry was (and still is to a greatextent) painfully true.This is one of those marvelous films that makes one cry and laugh, almost simultaneously. As many have said before, it is Chaplinesque.I especially appreciated hearing the various languages actually spoken by the characters - German, Italian, Greek, Turkish. The subtitles help the viewer very well indeed, but the sound of the actual languages enhances the verisimilitude of the story.Just recently I have, after more than 20 years of searching, discovered that this film is on video tape, and I can't wait to acquire it - at long last!