For Love and Gold
A raucous, mud-stained anti-epic that strips the Middle Ages of its shining armor, revealing a hilarious world of rot, cowardice, and delusional optimism. Like a commedia dell'arte troupe lost in a Bergmanesque plague landscape.
For Love and Gold
For Love and Gold

L'armata Brancaleone

07 April 1966 France 120 min ⭐ 7.7 (387)
Director: Mario Monicelli
Cast: Vittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak, Folco Lulli, Gian Maria Volonté, Maria Grazia Buccella
Comedy Adventure
The Anti-Myth of the Middle Ages Language as Social Mask The Resilience of the Underdog Religious Hypocrisy and Fanaticism
Box Office: $1,314,230

For Love and Gold - Movie Quotes

Memorable Quotes

Branca, Branca, Branca! Leone, Leone, Leone!

— The Army (Chant)

Context:

Sung whenever the group marches to a new location, often accompanied by cartoonish animation on screen.

Meaning:

The group's rhythmic marching chant. It is meant to sound inspiring and martial but is performed by a ragged bunch of beggars, highlighting the gap between their image and reality.

Io vi sono duce! Io vi sono padre!

— Brancaleone

Context:

Brancaleone asserting his authority over his unruly and disrespectful followers.

Meaning:

"I am your leader! I am your father!" A parody of fascist and imperial rhetoric. Brancaleone uses the word "Duce" (Leader), which has heavy historical weight in Italy (Mussolini), mocking the desire for a strongman.

Poco tengo, poco dongo.

— Abacuc

Context:

Said when others ask him for money or resources.

Meaning:

"I have little, I give little." A catchphrase of the miserly Jewish merchant, summarizing the economy of scarcity that defines the film's world.

- Who is that pale but appetizing one? - My sister. - No, I meant the other one beyond, the one with the whore's face. - My mother.

— Brancaleone & Teofilatto

Context:

Brancaleone spying on Teofilatto's family, trying to identify women to court.

Meaning:

Illustrates Brancaleone's complete lack of social grace and the film's bawdy, irreverent humor regarding family and nobility.