The Secret of Santa Vittoria

The real secret is how they got all the extras. There's roughly 7,000 people in this movie, each one passing a bottle of wine to the next. The main story is interesting and questions the value of life in war time vs the preservation of culture à la The Train. While The Train may carry more prestige in its examination of the topic, The Secret of Santa Vittoria wins you over with a subplot that leads to rape, because, comedy.

A charming lead performance from Quinn anchors gorgeously filmed comedy/drama, which perhaps goes on too long, and utimately leads to a too-vividly bleak deneumont. Fine supporting cast adds plenty of oomph, with Kruger especially effective as the head Nazi.

Strange comedy-drama, in which an Italian village, after the fall of Mussolini, ends up with a cheerful drunk for mayor. He proves his worth by leading them in a ruse: hiding a million bottles of wine from occupying Nazis. The first half is farce, but the second half turns oddly serious, adding to the offbeat feel, as does the epic length (139 minutes). It drags, to be sure, and the acting can be pretty hammy, but there are amusing moments throughout--like the mayor's idolization of Machiavelli.

A little longer than it needs to be but some genuinely terrific scenes make it a worthwhile watch.

Absolutely brilliant cinematography from the phenomenal Giuseppe Rotunno, and the acting is nothing to scoff at. I didn't get the subplot at all, which forces the overall fanciful tone down a dark and twisted detour.

Quinn is great. Beautifully shot.

The heart of the movie is the Quinn/Krüger interactions, and both are in top form. This is the rare Kramer film that's very light on social messages and it's kind of better for it. Shot in Italy at Cinecittà, it has wonderful cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno