(ANSA) - Roberto Benigni's new film La Tigre e la Neve (The Tiger and the Snow) knocked rivals off the box-office perch when it opened this weekend, taking more than three million euros. The film, a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the Iraq war, hit an unprecedented 955 movie screens across the country.
It immediately ousted spine-chiller The Exorcism of Emily Rose from the number one slot, despite a bout of exceptionally fine weather and a strike by movie houses in protest at culture cuts in the government's next budget. Oscar-winning Benigni, who co-wrote, starred in and directed the movie, was jubilant over the film's reception.
"It's a triumph... This is a really wonderful result. This film is one which will last - at least until next year's general elections. My thanks to audiences," Benigni enthused to reporters on Monday. The left-wing director and comedian joked about his
film's performance and the Sunday 'primaries' held across Italy which crowned Romano Prodi as the leader of the opposition.
"I'm the real winner. Prodi made three million at the polls but I made four million at the cinemas... Next Sunday we'll have the run-offs. Prodi will go and see The Tiger and the Snow and I'll go and vote again," quipped the 52-year-old Tuscan, who plays a love-struck poet in The Tiger and the Snow.
The film, which cost 18 million euros, features many of Benigni's long-term collaborators including his actress wife Nicoletta Braschi - who is also a co-producer - and screenplay writer Vincenzo Cerami. The score was penned by Nicola Piovani, who bagged an Oscar for his music to Benigni's acclaimed 1999 Holocaust picture Life Is Beautiful.
As in that film, it is Benigni's love for Braschi that provides the momentum for The Tiger and the Snow. Benigni plays Attilio De Giovanni, whose unrequited love for Braschi leads to madcap adventures to win her heart. When Vittoria is seriously injured in Baghdad, Attilio rushes to her aid just as American tanks begin rolling into the Iraqi capital.
An additional draw is French actor Jean Reno - of Leon fame - who plays an Iraqi poet. The movie was shot in Italy and Tunisia, with districts of Baghdad and Falluja recreated at three southern Tunisian oases and the Tunisian government providing troops and tanks.
Benigni is hoping the movie will re-establish his directing credibility at an international level following the disastrous reception abroad of his last film, Pinocchio. The 45-million-euro blockbuster, a live-action remake of the classic fairy tale, was panned by the critics in Italy and flopped in the United States.
In contrast to the three Oscars won by Life Is Beautiful, Pinocchio garnered six nominations for the 2003 Golden Raspberry Awards for "worst achievements in film" including Worst Actor, Worst Director and Worst Screen Couple (Benigni and Braschi).
In the end it only won one, Worst Actor.
Benigni shot to international fame with Life Is Beautiful, winning Oscars for best foreign film, best actor and best music.
But some critics accused Benigni of treating a tragic theme lightly - a criticism which could resurface among some viewers with his depiction of the war in Iraq.
