Suicide is a luxury. A wonderful film about understanding life and death. Censorship has prevented it from being appreciated. For two years (from 1953 to 1955), the censors cut the picture, until they allowed it to be released on the screen with cut scenes and dubbing Toto. It was only in 1999 that film producer Aurelio Di Laurentiis, in collaboration with the National Cinema and Cinema of Bologna, restored Mario Monicelli’s work to its true purpose.
Toto plays Antonio Caccavallo, a police officer who dreams of being promoted. Antonio, wishing to curry favor, during a round-up of prostitutes and the Borghese villa, arrests the girl Caroline, who came to Rome from the village to work as a maid. It turns out that the girl was not engaged in prostitution, but wanted to commit suicide. If Caroline tries to commit suicide again, everyone blames the police and their methods. Therefore, Antonio is instructed to return the girl to the village and hand her over to relatives. This is not easy to do, though.
The story is full of subtle humor, witty dialogue and, most importantly, unobtrusive but very instructive situations. Take at least an episode when a failed suicide is in the house of Antonio, meets his father and son, and sees how many simple, everyday problems have to be solved by this family, without paying much attention to the difficulties.
Caqualho, not understanding the therapeutic effect, makes the girl in a new way to discover the beauty of nature, human relationships, and most importantly – the positive little things that make up life. The apotheosis is Caccavallo’s philosophizing: “You cannot commit suicide.” I thought about it once, too. But I'm not only responsible for myself. I have a son and a father for whom I am responsible. Suicide is not for us poor. Suicide is for the rich. Suicide is a luxury.
The censors did not like three dozen episodes and almost as many lines. Not only did I have to cut some scenes, but I also had to duplicate Toto. It was only in 1999 that everything, including Toto’s voice, returned to its rightful place.
The film is very light, very subtle, with the great acting work of Toto. The role of Caroline was sensually performed by Anna-Maria Ferrero (Guerro), so similar to Ingrid Bergman.
9 out of 10