Renato Pozzetto, the co-star of Paolo Villaggio from the Italian comedy Le Comiche and its two sequels, plays the role of Burro, a country boy and a simpleton, in this weird and extremely hard-to-categorize movie. Although there are several comedic scenes concerning various acts of Burro's tomfoolery, this flick is as far from the likes of Le Comiche, a film paying homage to slapstick comedies, as it can be. Burro, despite being a grown up, still lives with his mother. He's somewhat slower than the others, but certainly not retarded. Burro has a predilection for cinema and goes to the movies every evening, dressed as if he was going to the Sunday services. He has a crush on an actress and he keeps collecting her photos and images until his relationship with the woman from the silver screen results in a bitter disappointment-the actress eventually shows affection for another man in her latest movie. Burro has also some serious psychological issues stemming from his childhood. The husband of Burro's mother was a police officer who became the laughing stock of the whole village after falling asleep next to a dead body he was supposed to guard on a cold night. Burro's dad was deemed a disgrace to the village after being found curled up under one blanket with a corpse. It is revealed later that Burro's mother had an affair with a butcher and one unfortunate episode of Burro's childhood involving an unsuccessful slaughtering of a pig left a mark on the boy. The whole movie is in fact a series of Burro's encounters with various townspeople leading to the recollections of Burro's past. The movie contains several totally confusing scenes, for instance, one night ,Burro participates in a stage show of a magician and hypnotist who convinces Burro to imitate animals in front of the audience. Early on in the movie, a saucer is smashed into pieces- it is one of the saucers with the images of popes that Burro's mother uses in the kitchen. When Burro and his mother try to find out which pope was portrayed on the broken saucer, to their surprise they arrive at the conclusion that the set of saucers is still complete and that a miracle must have occurred. Burro encounters several women, all resembling the actress he is fond of, and the promise of a sexual intercourse is hinted at. Unfortunately, Burro is finally ripped off by a gypsy girl and the only true friend he seems to have is the dog he accidentally ran into during his less than spectacular adventures... This is a weird movie, but also an unpredictable one. Some parts may or may not be more easily deciphered by the Italian audience. The acting is generally good, Renato Pozzetto gives a strong performance as Burro and some heavy emotions are put on display.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
