Not our comrades. Turin of the late nineteenth century. A riot is brewing in one of the largest garment factories. How's it ripening? It is more about the systemic discontent of workers. Moreover, timid workers are not even able to express their demands, maturing only slowly for an act of collective protest. But then they got a special luck. In the city came a hare someone rolling field Sinigaglia, calling himself a professor. The smart-eyed intellectual led the protest movement and prompted the workers to a long strike. From that moment began a difficult line of confrontation between manufacturers and naive, but rather resistant workers.
Mario Monicelli is a master of social satire. The Italian always looks for it where the least satire could be found. And if in crime (the Attackers, as always, remained unknown), as well as in the absurdities of the war (the Great War), the tragic and ridiculous were relatively easy to touch together, then in the left-strike “Comrade” such a method was already more difficult to find. But Monicelli coped here, showing very precisely the nature of the rebellion.
The Italian has no "decisive Marxists"; there are no ardent revolutionaries or "people of cause." Rebellion is, on the one hand, a historical and natural phenomenon in which class antagonisms grow, but the proletariat itself does not, however, become a destructive, let alone a creative force. On the other hand, rebellion is a source of manipulation carried out by various crooks. It is such a crook without family and attachment to something blood, perfectly plays Marcello Mastroianni. This is Stavrogin from Demons, only with a less nihilistic gut. However, what is especially remarkable in Monicelli’s production is that he subjects rebellion, making it possible only under the condition of “demonic power.” But at the same time, the rebels themselves – simple artisans – he has all the positive heroes, simple guys / girls from the people, with their little cockroaches, but pure souls. Conversely, Monicelli’s factory owners are shown through the distorted prism of overeating freaks who deliberately and cynically exploit the workers. As a result, the Italian managed to catch the very neutrality that allowed him to avoid special leftism and successfully "ballot" in the States for the Oscar.
However, the film has a significant drawback. "Comrades" came out heavyweight. What is initially perceived colorfully (for example, proletarian life), and sometimes funny (preparation for a strike), eventually begins to tire, as the main characters in the film, opposing the insidious manufacturers. Monicelli did not hesitate to go into acute social topics, but the ease of presentation was clearly not his favorite. But he managed to pull a few remarkable figures into his production. Marcello Mastroianni has already been mentioned - a chic actor who once again showed a master class, playing an intelligent rebel, such a random Mephistopheles. Here she played a small but notable role of prostitute Annie Girardot - a bright star of French theater and cinema of the 50-60s.
Finally, in this film flashed 20-year-old Rafaella Carra – in the future star Italian singer and TV presenter. And directly for the game in this film, we can also note the fat Folco Lully, who strongly played a little stupid, but sincere leader of the local proletariat. Decent execution.
The movie is smart and with meaning, and Mastroianni is once again damn good. Still a little light in the narrative ... but then it would have been Mario Monicelli considered the director of No. 1 Italy, and not Federico Fellini. They don't think so.
6.5 out of 10