The Icicle Thief
Ladri di saponette
(1989)
Director Maurizio Nichetti is invited on TV to introduce a screening of his neo-realist classic 'The Icicle Thief'. He is horrified to discover that his black-and-white tale of life in poverty is constantly interrupted by garish color commercials, and even more horrified when a power cut in the studio causes film and commercials to mix up – a glamorous model finds herself in the arms of an unemployed pauper, while his wife finds herself in consumers' heaven. Nichetti has to break into the film to try to sort everything out.
6 Kinolab Clips
Opening Sequence
Director Nichetti (Maurizio Nichetti) arrives at a television studio for the airing of his film "Ladri di saponette".
Duration: 00:03:05
Contributor: Allison Cooper
Anna Watches TV
The young daughter of a middle-class Italian family watches TV.
Duration: 00:03:30
Timestamp: 00:03:05
Contributor: Allison Cooper
Maria
Maria (Caterina Sylos Labini) pursues her dream of becoming an entertainer.
Duration: 00:01:50
Timestamp: 00:08:48
Contributor: Allison Cooper
Big Big
The screening of Nichetti's film, and the Piermattei's dinner, is interrupted by an advertisement for Big Big candy bars.
Duration: 00:03:12
Timestamp: 00:29:30
Contributor: Allison Cooper
Heidi
While Maria (Caterina Sylos Labini) prepares for Antonio's return home from his first day at work, Antonio (Maria Piermattei) rescues Heidi (Heidi Komarek) from the local river.
Duration: 00:05:10
Timestamp: 00:39:09
Contributor: Allison Cooper
Closing Sequence
As Maria (Caterina Sylos Labini) and Bruno (Federico Rizzo) return to the Piermattei apartment with carts overloaded with consumer goods, director Nichetti (Maurizio Nichetti) finds himself trapped in his postwar melodrama, begging the middle-class family in 1990 to help him escape.
Duration: 00:04:17
Timestamp: 01:14:55
Contributor: Allison Cooper