I Vitelloni
I vitelloni | |
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Directed by | Federico Fellini |
Screenplay by | Federico Fellini Ennio Flaiano Tullio Pinelli |
Story by | Federico Fellini Tullio Pinelli |
Produced by | Lorenzo Pegoraro Mario De Vecchi Jacques Bar |
Starring | Alberto Sordi Franco Fabrizi Franco Interlenghi Leopoldo Trieste |
Narrated by | Riccardo Cucciolla |
Cinematography | Carlo Carlini Otello Martelli Luciano Trasatti |
Edited by | Rolando Benedetti |
Music by | Nino Rota |
Production companies | Peg-Films Cité Films |
Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
Countries | Italy France |
Language | Italian |
I vitelloni (Italian pronunciation:
Recipient of both the
Plot
As summer draws to a close, a violent downpour interrupts a beach-side beauty pageant in a provincial town on the
Unemployed and living off their parents, Fausto's twenty-something[5] friends kill time shuffling from empty cafés to seedy pool halls to aimless walks across desolate windswept beaches. During the interim, they perform childish pranks. Taunting honest road workers from the safety of a luxury car they never earned, they're given a sound thrashing when it breaks down.
Moraldo, Sandra's brother and the youngest of the five vitelloni, uncomfortably observes Fausto's womanizing as he ponders his own existence, dreaming of ways to escape to the big city. Riccardo, the baritone, nourishes unrealistic ambitions to sing and act. Alberto, the daydreamer, is supported by his mother and self-reliant sister, Olga. Vulnerable and close to his mother, he's unhappy that Olga is secretly dating a married man. Leopoldo, the aspiring dramatist, writes a play that he discusses with Sergio Natali, an eccentric stage actor he hopes will perform in it.
Back from his honeymoon and settled in with Sandra, Fausto is forced to accept a job as a stockroom assistant in a religious-articles shop owned by Michele Curti, a friend of his father-in-law's. Incorrigible, Fausto pursues other women even in his wife's presence.
At the annual masquerade ball, Fausto is bedazzled by the mature beauty of Giulia Curti, his employer's wife. Alberto, in drag and half-drunk, executes a surrealistic dance across the ballroom floor with a goofy carnival head made of papier-mâché. Returning home at dawn, Alberto is devastated to find his sister running off for good with her married lover. Fausto's naive attempt to seduce Giulia results in his being humiliated and then fired by her husband. In revenge, he steals the statue of an angel in gold paint from his former employer, enlisting the loyal Moraldo to help him first attempt to sell it to a convent and then sell it to a monk. Suspicious, both turn down the offers. Fausto ends up leaving the statue with a simple-minded peasant who sets the angel on a mound outside his hovel, caressing it.
One evening after a variety show, Leopoldo agrees to accompany old Sergio for a walk along the seashore to discuss the merits of his play but when the actor propositions him, he takes to his heels in horror. Learning of Fausto's one-night stand with a variety performer, Sandra runs away from home, taking the baby with her. Riccardo, Alberto, Leopoldo, and Moraldo all join in Fausto's desperate search to trace his wife and child. When they find her at the home of Fausto's father, Francesco pulls off his belt in a rage and finally whips his son. Later, and reconciled for the present, Fausto and Sandra walk home happily and with optimism about their life together. Resolved to abandon the provincial monotony of his dead-end town, Moraldo boards the train for anyplace else (Rome), imagining his vitelloni friends sleeping and dreaming their lives away.
Cast
- Franco Interlenghi as Moraldo Rubini
- Alberto Sordi as Alberto
- Franco Fabrizi as Fausto Moretti
- Leopoldo Trieste as Leopoldo Vannucci
- Riccardo Fellini as Riccardo
- Leonora Ruffo as Sandra Rubini, Moraldo's sister
- Jean Brochard as Francesco Moretti, Fausto's father
- Claude Farell as Olga, Alberto's sister
- Carlo Romano as Signore Michele Curti
- Lída Baarová as Signora Giulia Curti
- Enrico Viarisio as Signore Rubini, Moraldo's father
- Paola Borboni as Signora Rubini, Moraldo's mother
- Achille Majeroni as Sergio Natali
- Arlette Sauvage as mysterious woman at the cinema
- Silvio Bagolini as simple-minded peasant
- Vira Silenti as Gisella
- Maja Nipora as Caterina, the soubrette[6]
- Gigetta Morano as Alberto's mother
- Guido Martufi as Guido
- Silvio Bagolini as Giudizio
- Milvia Chianelli as Maria
- Lilia Landi as herself
- Riccardo Cucciolla as the voice of the narrator
Production
Writing
Having completed an early version of
Title
Distributors interested in the script demanded a title change: incomprehensible to a general audience, I vitelloni was a liability to an already risky venture. Fellini adamantly refused to change it, having chosen the film's title after "being called a vitellone by an elderly woman expressing disapproval of one of his pranks".[8] For him, vitelloni were "the unemployed of the middle class, mother's pets. They shine during the holiday season, and waiting for it takes up the rest of the year".[8] According to biographer Alpert, the term was Romagnol language|Romagnol for "veal, or calf ... used to refer to callow youths". Today, the term is widely translated as "big calves".
The actual origin of the term has been defined as a cross between the Italian words for veal (vitello) and beef (bovino) implying "an immature, lazy person without a clear identity or any notion of what to do with his life".[9] In a 1971 letter, co-screenwriter Ennio Flaiano offered a fuller meaning of the word: "The term vitellone was used in my day to define a young man from a modest family, perhaps a student – but one who had either already gone beyond the programmed schedule for his coursework, or one who did nothing all the time ... I believe the term is a corruption of the word vudellone, the large intestine, or a person who eats a lot. It was a way of describing the family son who only ate but never 'produced' – like an intestine, waiting to be filled."[10]
Casting
Fellini once again cast
To placate him, Fellini contacted Vittorio De Sica, hoping to convince him to play the part of Sergio Natali, the aging ham actor. When Fellini outlined the homosexual overtones of the role, De Sica accepted provided it was written with "a great deal of humanity".[14] In the end, he rejected the offer, "concerned about being marked as actually gay".[15] Fellini then decided that De Sica would have been "too nice, too fascinating, too distracting"[14] and cast Achille Majeroni, a respected stage actor, in the part.
Filming and editing
Described as an "itinerant production",
Working with several cinematographers over a six-month period, Fellini developed a predominant camera style based on slow tracking shots that "match the listless, purposeless lives" of his characters.[17] The camera often dollies in to underscored dramatic events, most notably when Sandra falls ill at the beauty pageant, after the birth of her child, and when Francesco beats his wayward son.
With editor Rolando Benedetti, Fellini established a rhythm in which short sequences were separated by abrupt cuts while longer sequences used dissolves. The numerous brief and disparate episodes "governed by their own internal logic" were thus held together by a particular editing pattern.[17] A freeze-frame was used to immobilize the young Guido, Moraldo's friend, at the end of the film when he balances himself on a railtrack.
Critical response
Italy and France
Screened in competition at the 14th Venice International Film Festival on 26 August 1953, the film was awarded the Silver Lion by Italian poet Eugenio Montale who headed the jury,[15] along with a public ovation and acclaim from the majority of critics.[18] "Belying all doubts about its appeal",[18] the film opened on September 17, 1953, to both commercial and critical success.
Reviewing for La Stampa, Mario Gromo argued that it was a "film of a certain importance because of its many intelligent moments, its sound portrayal of provincial life, and because it is the second film of a young director who evidently has considerable talent ... The Italian film industry now has a new director and one who puts his own personal ideas before any of the customary traditions of the trade. Fellini's is a fresh approach".[19] "It is the atmosphere that counts most in this unusual film," wrote Francesco Càllari of the Gazzetta del Lunedì, "an intensely human and poetical atmosphere altogether estranged from the provincialism of the setting ... Fellini has something to say and he says it with an acute sense of observation ... Here is someone apart from the other young directors of post-war Italian cinema. Fellini has a magical touch." First published 31 August 1953 in the Gazzeta del Lunedi (Genoa). After praising Fellini's Venice triumph, Ermanno Contini of Il Secolo XIX outlined the film's weaknesses: "I Vitelloni does not have a particularly solid structure, the story is discontinuous, seeking unity through the complex symbiosis of episodes and details ... The narrative, built up around strong emotions and powerful situations, lacks solid organic unity, and at times this undermines the story's creative force, resulting in an imbalance of tone and pace and a certain sense of tedium. But such shortcomings are amply atoned for by the film's sincerity and authenticity."[20] Arturo Lanocita of Corriere della Sera wrote: "I Vitelloni gives a graphic and authentic picture of certain aimless evenings, the streets populated by groups of idle youths ... The film is a series of annotations, hints, and allusions without unity ... With a touch of irony, Fellini tries to show the contrast between the way his characters see themselves and the way they really are. Despite its weaknesses, the film is one of the best in recent years."[21] For Giulio Cesare Castello of Cinema VI, the film proved "that Fellini is the Italian film industry's most talented satirist, and an acute observer and psychologist of human behaviour. Like any good moralist, he knows how to give his story a meaning, to provide more than just simple entertainment".[22]
Fellini's first film with international distribution,
United States
I Vitelloni opened in the United States on 7 November 1956 to generally positive reviews. In his
The film was re-released internationally on the tenth anniversary of Fellini's death in 2003. For the
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, I Vitelloni has an approval rating of 100% based on 26 reviews, with an average score of 8.70/10.[32]
Influence
One of Fellini's most imitated films,[33] I Vitelloni inspired European directors Juan Antonio Bardem, Marco Ferreri, and Lina Wertmüller, and influenced Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973), George Lucas's American Graffiti (1973), and Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985), among many others according to Kezich.[23] These include Philip Kaufman's The Wanderers (1979).[citation needed] While Barry Levinson's Diner (1982) features a similar group of young men, Levinson has said he never saw I Vitelloni before making his own film.[34]
In a 1963 edition of Cinema magazine, acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick cited the film as one of his top 10 favourite films.[35]
Awards
Wins
- Venice Film Festival: Silver Lion; Federico Fellini; 1953.
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists: Silver Ribbon; Best Director, Federico Fellini; Best Producer; Best Supporting Actor, Alberto Sordi; 1954.
Nominations
- Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion; Federico Fellini; 1953.
- Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen, Federico Fellini (screenplay/story), Ennio Flaiano (screenplay/story) and Tullio Pinelli (story); 1958.
References
- ^ a b "I vitelloni". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Kezich, 130
- ^ "THE 30TH ACADEMY AWARDS 1958". Oscars.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
- ^ "The five youthful characters range in age between nineteen and the early twenties." Alpert, 81–82
- ^ "Full cast and crew for I Vitelloni". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ Kezich, 131
- ^ a b c Alpert, 81
- ^ Bondanella, 90
- ^ Kezich, 132. This explanation also was proposed by Tullio Pinelli in a 2001 research interview for the documentary, Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (2002). CinéLibre (Paris), Issue July 2003.
- ^ a b c d Kezich, 134
- ^ a b Kezich, 133
- ^ Alpert, 82
- ^ a b Alpert, 83
- ^ a b c d Kezich, 135
- ^ Alpert, 84
- ^ a b Bondanella, 96
- ^ a b Alpert, 85
- ^ First published 9 October 1953 in La Stampa (Turin). Fava and Vigano, 73
- ^ First published 28 August 1953 in Il Secolo XIX (Genoa). Fava and Vigano, 75
- ^ First published 28 August 1953 in Corriere della Sera (Milan). Fava and Vigano, 75
- ^ First published 31 August 1953 in Cinema VI (Milan). Fava and Vigano, 75
- ^ a b c Kezich, 137
- ^ First published May 1954 in Les Cahiers du Cinéma. Fava and Vigano, 76
- ^ Alpert, 86
- ^ Johnson, Eric C. "Cahiers du Cinema: Top Ten Lists 1951-2009". alumnus.caltech.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
- ^ First published 24 October 1956 in The New York Times. Fava and Vigano, 76
- ^ Alpert, 87
- ^ LaSalle, Mick. San Francisco Chronicle, film review, 2003.
- ^ Wilmington, Michael.[permanent dead link] The Chicago Tribune, film review, 2003.
- ^ "CRITIC'S CHOICE/Film; Adrift in Post-war Italy, Perilously close to 30". New York Times. 14 November 2003.
- ^ "The Young and The Passionate". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "There are so many imitators," wrote Kezich, "it's impossible to list them all." Kezich, 137
- ^ Farber, Stephen New York Times, 1982
- ^ Baxter 1997, p. 12.
Bibliography
- Baxter, John (1997). Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-638445-8.
- Alpert, Hollis (1988). Fellini: A Life. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1-55778-000-5
- Bondanella, Peter (1992). The Cinema of Federico Fellini. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00875-2
- Fava, Claudio and Aldo Vigano (1990). The Films of Federico Fellini. New York: Citadel. ISBN 0-8065-0928-7
- Kezich, Tullio (2006). Fellini: His Life and Work. New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-21168-5
External links
- I Vitelloni at IMDb
- I Vitelloni at the TCM Movie Database
- I Vitelloni at AllMovie
- I Vitelloni selected scene on YouTube
- I Vitelloni carnival scene on YouTube
- I Vitelloni: A Trip to the Station an essay by Tom Piazza at the Criterion Collection