Johnny Stecchino: An Italian Classic Essay, Research Paper

Robert Benigni is one of Italy’s top movie stars, on the order of Harrison Ford or Steve Martin; he is called “The Clown Prince”. In this 1991 comedy classic, Benigni plays Dante, a sweet school bus driver who talks about as fast as fast can get. He also happens to be an exact replica of Johnny Stecchino, a tough-talking gangster who’s on the run after squealing on the other Mafiosos in power. Unfortunately for Dante, he bumps into Johnny’s gorgeous wife Maria as she almost runs him over. She not only notices the “twin” aspect, but also comes up with a master plan to save her good-for-nothing husband from the mob. She’ll pass Dante off as Johnny and the stooge will walk right into a bullet. With visits to the local tailor and a mole on his cheek in eyeliner, the loving wife wastes no time in transforming Dante into a “dummy” for the local hitman who is looking to make a name for himself.

Dante likes the newfound attention. People never noticed him in the hole in the wall apartment that he lived in, or while driving his school bus. Pedestrians stop and stare and even complete strangers come up to him to share their war stories. There’s only one little detail that he’s failed to figure out while living out his fifteen minutes of fame why he is receiving this attention. Being a pickpocket, he steals a banana and thinks this is the reason people want him dead, and starts to believe that the local fruit vendor is a high-power Mafia don. The misunderstanding is compounded by the police playing along with what they see as a psychopath; when Dante runs into the judge who cut the deal with Johnny Stecchino, the judge words his dialogue so as to make Dante think that the police are corrupt, and only after his banana. Some of the movie’s comic strength is derived from this one long-running gag as Dante continuously bumps into his judge. The judge can’t believe that “Johnny” is showing his face in public after the bird-song that he had sung. Even funnier is when he escorts Maria to the opera house and all in attendance begin to ridicule the supposed hoodlum. Dante begins to think that stealing a banana is a capital offense in Palermo, and he gets so worked up over the crowd’s rude attitude towards Maria that he begins to shout insult and obscenity at them. The scene truly is a classic mistaken-identity event. The movie ends with Maria realizing what a scumbag Johnny is, and plans with a rival don to bump him off. While Dante does not win the girl in the end, he comes off unscathed, with a passionate kiss his reward.

Whether confusing cocaine as a medicine for diabetes, becoming wracked with the shakes at the sight of a witch-hunting insurance investigator or making a room full of cold-blooded killers recite an obscure version of what I can only describe as “Old Macdonald Had a Farm,” Benigni is a splendid clown of Jerry Lewis-like proportions. In fact, the only reason why Johnny Stecchino does not bowl me over is because I’ve seen Jerry Lewis pull the same stunts before.

Without removing any credit to Benigni as a director or actor, his writing is derivative and over-done. His excellent control as a director allowed this movie to shine. His use of wide angle shots, like the one meant to frame Dante while he was being shot at, conveyed a focus of action that the any other shot would not be able to. The shot over the hood as Dante meets Maria for the first time had suspense in the wait for Dante’s realization. His sense of space was also portrayed as Dante meets his “uncle” (actually a mobster); the low angle shot of Dante as Uncle slowly approaches reminds the viewer of a Western showdown, a conflict between Dante’s resemblance to Johnny and the uncle’s incredulity at the uncanny likeness. A sense of drama in this style heightens the comic value of it, for they are unexpected in a comedy.