In some places, a masterpiece! The protagonist of this story, Benjamino (Toto), suffers. He lives in a school classroom, he dreams of a chicken breast, his son makes boats out of his shoes, his daughter meets with some scoundrel, and his wife always drank: “What kind of man are you if you can not provide your family with a normal home?”
And Benjamino begins to solve the housing problem by all means. After forging documents, he gets a job as a watchman with a three-bedroom service apartment. But the guard is not simple, but the cemetery. His house is also among the crosses and tombstones. And that's the funniest part of the movie. If the authors could stand the whole film in the style of black humor, the audience would get a masterpiece. Here are some quotes:
- I'm a former cemetery guard.
- You can see it.
- By the cap?
- No, in the face.
- Is the place hot?
- When how. When there is an epidemic, things go uphill: just a plague!
- Graves are full of life.
- We have a owl watch. The cuckoo clock would look too frivolous here.
- Are you the wife of the deceased?
The Benyamino family escapes from the cemetery after the first night and goes on in search of housing. The studio of the artist working in the nude style is not suitable due to the high probability of the appearance of jealous husbands of models. The Colosseum is good, but there are too many high-profile tourists. When Toto wins the lottery, the doors of Rome’s finest houses open. But new problems are emerging.
Unfortunately, after the episode in the cemetery, the degree of humor in the film gradually drops. Toto's grimaces gradually become boring, and the jokes become monotonous.
The film is said to be a parody of neorealism. But here’s what is true: it was Toto in Search of a Home that allowed producer Carlo Pontiis to earn enough money and in the same year together with Dino De Laurentiis to create a joint company Ponti-De Laurentiis company. At least the casa producer found it.
6 out of 10