User Reviews

Like others Italian comedians of that period, Paolo Villagio participates in the writing of the script and also stars in this movie as a peddler, Leo Gavazzi, working for a firm specialized in all sorts of toys oriented to make practical jokes (innocent ones) to the unsuspecting victims. It's a thankless and dated job. And he is eternally plagued with little mishaps that put his life in one absurd situation after another. Of course, Paolo Villagio is an veteran buffoon, with lot of experience in vaudeville, in television and in cinema and he also is a writer of books of satiric style. As Leo, he is hilarious, a timid person, fumbler and mumbler, more clumsy than ever, but always going forward. The director, Steno, same as his leading actor, is a veteran of the Italian cinema with 80 credits as a director and 127 as a writer. His style is non intrusive. The action flows from one gag to another and the contrived plot, fluffy as it is, holds its cohesion throughout the picture. In this occasion, these two old hands, are teamed up with the young Ornella Muti. I have already said it in another revisions: she is gorgeous!. But in this comedy, she creates her own character, as Rosetta Foschini (she prefers being called Giada), an insecure employee with the job of announcing news concerning the state of the railroad schedules at the Roma terminal station. She is a perfect girl but also myopic, a real feminine "Mr. Magoo". When her eyeglass are accidentally broken, she transforms in the ideal companion of adventures of the clumsy and not too handsome Leo. Completing the cast, there is the french good looking actor, Jean Sorel. He is a shady character and he competes with Leo for the affections of Giada. Poor Jean!. He doesn't know that love is blind!. I find this movie frankly crazy, screwball type, not particularly satirical. In fact Bonnie And Clyde of the 80 is the unfortunate way in which the Italian media refers to Giada and Leo, wrongly accused of committing a bank robbery when instead they were blameless hostages of the real perpetrators. Aside of that fact, the story has nothing to do with the tragic narration of the real lovers and bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde. All in this film is silly and absurd and only seeks our laughs. In my case, it succeeded. Rhapsody, the title's song, is sang in English by Bonnie Bianco aka Lory Bianco. It's a powerful theme very typical of the '80. Around this time in 1983, she starred in a very popular (in Europe) TV miniseries named "Cinderella of the Eighties" alongside the heartthrob Pierre Coso, Adolfo Celli and Sylva Koscina.