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Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Memorable, crazy movie

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Sometimes you almost forget you saw a movie, and then it comes back in a flood and there's some pleasant memories or not so much. Ciao Professore is that moment when I look this movie up on IMDb and realize that I sat and watched the thing from start to finish and have a memory of even enjoying it... and the reason it's in a haze is because it was shown to me in Italian class in high school. Was it good because it was something distracting me from the pain of high school, or because it was genuinely good and funny and insightful? Somewhere in the middle, and I think that having to watch it and note the Italian words was a part of my ambivalence in liking it more. Maybe I'd feel different about it today. For now I'd say if you ever come across this movie about an unconventional Italian teacher getting the town's wayward third grade students into something better than before with comic results - sort of like the wacky version of a Lean on Me, if that can possibly make sense - watch it, it's fun. If you go in expecting the Wertmuller of Seven Beauties, it's not that. It's her making a "kids" movie... which has its own edge, to be fair.

Lina Wertmuller's 1992 film "Ciao professore" is a sunny comedy with a social conscience, which is this director's trademark. The conflict in ideology between the Italian North and South comes to a head in this sunny comedy that pointed out to the poverty of some of the towns in the area, especially around Naples.Marco Tullio Sperelle, the teacher at the center of the story, has made a serious mistake. Instead of getting his transfer to Corsano, he is sent instead to teach in Corzano, a poor town by the sea. This is a place that lives in poverty and children are sent to work at a tender age. To Marco's surprise, on his first day at the school, he meets only three children in his third grade class. Why only three? Well, he is told the others are working! Marco goes out and finds them and brings them back to where they really belong, but most of them resent the intrusion and the way it will affect their families.Life is not easy in Corzano. From a young age the children are exposed to the wars between the organized crime, the Camorra, the local mafia, as they struggle for domination and extortion. Raffaele, one of Marco's students is a tough guy who challenges the teacher's authority. Marco's response is violent, something he later feels sorry about. He sets out to win the hearts and minds, but he had put his papers to be transfer to the right area. He can't stop the bureaucracy, but the students come around because they discover a kindred soul who has done everything to help them.The film is made better by Paolo Villaggio's work. His Marco Tullio Sperelle is perfect. He shows great affinity for his character. Lina Wertmuller and her mostly non professional cast do a wonderful job in taking us to see how the other half lives as they struggle for everyday things.

This movie is great for those who:-love Italian culture-love Italian kids-love southern Italian dialectThis movie haunted me at movie stores since I became interested in foreign films 4 or 5 years ago. Glaring and obnoxious as its cover is, I finally rented it. All in all a decent comedy.In my ratings scale, comedies are graded more on their humor than their story line. In the case of this movie, that is a good thing. A weak story of coincidence, a northern italian professor ends up teaching in the chaos that is Italy southern (Napoli).I loved the movie because I understand italian well enough to not read the satisfactory subtitles and because the kids were luminous compared to the usual fumbling kiddie actors; these ones were adorable and their lines hilarious.Other notes: There is a lot of vulgarity in this movie, as is typical in the south. The lead, a likeable Paolo Villaggio, plays foil for the wild kids. The story is simple and dismissable. The cinematography is standard, blessed by the wondrous ambient that is the dilapidated South. A normally celebrated Wertmuller seems to have chosen an easy project here. The movie was produced by media mogul Silvio Berlusconi (vaffa!).Ultimately it's a movie to waste 90 min, but it was enjoyable and will certainly rouse a smile when I see it on the shelves next time.6/10, JCC

This movie is a true gem...even with all the swearing it still retains an almost disney like innocence. The Italian children that are in this movie will absolutely amaze you...most north-american style child actors are guilty of either complete lack of talent, or of being hams...not so here.... not to say many of the scene's aren't over the top..they are...but they are done so well, and the comedy and drama handled so deftly you take it all in stride.... This movie is on par with another foreign film called "Children of Heaven"....different subject matter, but same sense of comedy and drama.