Nothing Left to Do But Cry

Nothing Left to Do But Cry (Non ci resta che piangere, 1984) is an Italian comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Two friends get stuck on the road, spend a night at an old inn, and wake up — for no reason anyone can explain — in the year 1492.

Schoolteacher Saverio and caretaker Mario (played by Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi, who also directed) try to make a life in the fifteenth century. They argue with a tax collector over a single florin, teach Leonardo da Vinci a trick or two, and dictate letters nobody will understand. Then it hits them: Columbus hasn't sailed yet. If they reach Spain and talk him out of it, America never happens — and neither does everything that came after.

Benigni and Troisi improvised much of the dialogue on set, and the letter-dictation scene is still quoted across Italy. For both comedians, it stayed one of their favorite roles. Stream Nothing Left to Do But Cry (1984) online on iFILM.