THE ICICLE THIEF

Since THE ICICLE THIEF is a film-within-a-TV-show-within-a-film, attempting to describe the plot of this comedy masterpiece would be hazardous, to say the least. The winner of numerous international awards, including the Grand Prix at the Moscow Film Festival, it is a clever, creative, and wickedly funny satire that makes good fun of both contemporary TV and Italian neorealism. When a somber, black & white film about a poor post-war Italian family is presented on TV, it is abrasively and repeatedly interrupted by the most obnoxious commercials, driving the film's director mad. As a result of a power outage, characters from the ads (in color), find themselves lost in the feature film (in black & white), and the director feels it his duty to go in himself to sort things out and keep his film's plot on track. Nichetti has reinvented neo-realism to suit the neon and neuroses of the nineties.