Nothing Left to Do But Cry

Non ci resta che piangere
The original film poster
Directed by	Roberto Benigni Massimo Troisi
Produced by	Mario Cecchi Gori Vittorio Cecchi Gori
Written by	Giuseppe Bertolucci (novel) Roberto Benigni Massimo Troisi (story)
Starring	Roberto Benigni Massimo Troisi
Music by	Pino Donaggio
Edited by	Nino Baragli
Distributed by	Cecchi Gori Group
Release date	1984 (1984)
Running time	113 minutes 145 minutes (extended cut)
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

Non ci resta che piangere (in the U.S. is also known as Nothing Left to Do But Cry) is a 1984 Italian comedy film, starring Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi, who are also directors and writers of the movie.

School janitor Mario (Massimo Troisi) and teacher Saverio (Roberto Benigni) are in a car at a level crossing, waiting for the train to pass. The scenery is the Tuscan countryside, in 1984. Saverio complains of his sister Gabriellina's being unwell since her boyfriend left her three years ago and asks Mario to marry her, much to Mario's frustration.

Since the keeper tells them that several more trains are coming through before they can pass, the two decide to take a path through the fields in the hopes of bypassing the tracks. Shortly afterwards, the car breaks down, and as the night approaches, it starts to rain. The two men find shelter under a huge tree, but it is late, and there seems to be no hope the rain will stop before the night is over. While talking about Saverio's moroseness at school, which even the students have noticed, they spot a light through the rain that turns out to be that of a small inn with an old-fashioned wooden sign. Mario and Saverio decide to spend the night there and are hosted in a room along with a third man, who is already sleeping when they come in.

In the morning, the two wake up to find the man urinating onto the street from the window. Their laughter is stopped at once by the sight of a spear hitting him in the chest and killing him. From the window they spot riders on horses fleeing the scene. They rush downstairs to see what happened, and find, in astonishment, that they have travelled back in time to the year 1492 and are in a small town called Frittole.

Forced to come to terms with the fact after being in denial, they make friends with Vitellozzo, brother of the man killed in the inn. He explains them he is in a feud with a gang of men led by Giuliano Del Capecchio, who are responsible for the death of Vitellozzo's brother and other members of his family. Once in Frittole, Mario and Saverio meet Vitellozzo's mother and try to get used to the idea of being in 1492. Saverio feels at ease while Mario simply cannot get along with what he is going through and aches to go back to his time.

The next Sunday, they go to the church and Mario meets Pia, a rich girl, and they fall in love, mostly through Mario's posing as a musician and the composer of numerous songs he remembers (poorly) from the 20th century, including Yesterday by the Beatles and the Italian national anthem. After trying to help Vitellozzo, who is sent to prison for defying a curfew on open windows set by Del Capecchio's gang, they help to run Vitellozzo's family's butcher shop. Mario leaves most of the work to Saverio as he courts Pia, and an increasingly frustrated Saverio at last convinces him to leave for Spain in order to stop Christopher Columbus from setting sail and discovering the Americas. Saverio argues that both the extermination of the Native Americans and the creation of American pop culture are travesties that must be averted.