Fellini's Amarcord (I Remember) (1974)

This is Fellini's Italy as he remembers it when he was a young boy. It's an an ensemble featuring a number of interesting characters centering around teenage Titto, his friends, family and neighbors. Fellini was not a fan of the fascism of the time and we see that in character's reactions to the new developments in the government. The film is like a scrapbook with a number of humorous stories about fascism, the Catholic church, school, and family. For example, Titto has a very grouchy and temperamental uncle and a loving and devoted aunt, and they often argue. These family scenes are very enjoyable. The town has a prostitute, and we get to meet her a bit. There is also a hairdresser character, Gradisca, played by Magali Noël. She's the woman who every man has a crush on, and eventually marries in the end, in a big wedding where everyone in town is invited. There are also funny moments in the classroom and with the teachers.

I really enjoyed this movie very much. I thought of Woody Allen's Radio Days and how similar they both are, and also thought of other coming of age films that owe alot to this film. It is very lyrical and beautiful to watch, photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno the same cinematographer who shot Robert Altman's Popeye, another movie that this reminded me of.

Though much less cerebral than 8-1/2, there are a number of symbolic elements that have kept critics discussing ever since the film came out, including the famous ship scene and the peacock scene. Why do they appear in the film? Well, the ship is a grand construction of Italy (based on the real SS Rex), and is source of great pride to the villagers. The peacock, well, that's not so easy to explain. It's rare appearance suggests royalty or even a angelic spiritual presence. There are a number of wonderful moments like that in the film, including a scene showing a rare snowfall that really happened one year. I haven't heard the DVD commentary yet but plan to because there's so much to enjoy in this, and so much history as well.

Magali Noël in Amarcord

Our instructor for the course was Dr. Constance Markey, who is the co-author of the 1978 book Federico Fellini: A Guide to References and Resources and the author of the 1999 book Italo Calvino: A Journey toward Postmodernism. She has taught Italian literature and film at DePaul University for many years. During our final class discussion, she and her husband brought in two bottles of wine for us to enjoy! It was nice. She taught us a few Italian words and phrases and talked about her travels to Italy, pointing out that many of the settings in Amarcord are still as they look today; she roomed in houses just like Titto's family's house.

She also mentioned that she and her husband went to see the Venice-set The Tourist (which I reviewed the other day here) but didn't care for it much other than for the scenery. She said movies like that don't stay in her head long after the film is over, like Amarcord . I didn't argue with her about it. The Tourist for me I guess is a guilty pleasure I suppose. 

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

The Fellini Film Cafe in El Paso, Texas (photos)

This is a neat video store/cafe in El Paso near the college campus. I recommend stopping in if you happen to be traveling through. There is a little video rental inside with mostly foreign and art house films. The cafe is small and has an Italian vibe with red/white checkerboard tablecloths. the menu has coffee, cappuccinos and sandwiches. When I visited in May 2009 (last year), I had a caesar salad and stayed for a movie at 7 PM (the movie was Blindness). Several times a week, they pull down a screen, the lights go off, and the candles are lit on the tables. It's really cool. The staff picks the movies so you really don't always know what you are in for.

Official Website

Photo taken last time I was there, May 2009

Fellini's 8-1/2 (1963)

Recently I had the chance to view several Fellini films as part of a film appreciation course. If you missed the last posts I did in this series, I've written some opinions on I Vitelloni, La Strada, and La Dolce Vita.

My take on 8-1/2, which I finally saw in its entirety, is short and to the point - I'm not a big fan of it. I like dream sequences, but this film pushed the whole dream thing to the limits for my tastes. I was going to review this movie 11 months ago, originally intended as a double review with Nine, but I put it off when I no longer wanted to see the poorly reviewed Rob Marshall-directed musical.

Many people remember seeing this film for the first time in college, like someone I know who saw it three times on his college campus when it came out in the '60s. I tried watching it several times but could only take it in pieces since college, unable to find the right mood to watch it in its entirety. When I finally got the chance (during my appreciation course), it was the day that Elizabeth Edwards passed away, and I was sad because i just heard the news. I remembered her philandering husband, John Edwards who cheated on her while she was battling cancer, and incidentally has been voted #1 A-hole of the decade. So again I was not in the mood to watch a film about a womanizer, and didn't like the cutesy scenes in with the wife and the mistress together. In real life, Fellini was married to Giulietta Masina for 50 years. And she, like Mrs. Edwards, stayed loyal while her spouse had black-and-white dreams of chasing skirts. Felllni might have loved "women", but deep down he truly loved only one woman - Giulietta.

The instructor of our film class said she didn't like it at first when she first saw it many years ago, and as a woman, took offense at it. But after many viewings she grew to love it more. But I'm not sure I have the patience to watch it again anytime soon. Very interesting to look at visually, but I just couldn't put it all together.

So I don't really have much else to say about this one, other than the next film I'll discuss, Amarcord, which I liked much better.

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If you are interested in reading more about the film....

These bloggers had some great posts on the film and helped me to understand it.

1,001 Movies
Review of 8-1/2
Fey liked this film the second time. Maybe I should give it another viewing. Eh, maybe later.

On Chicago Theatre:
Discussing 8 1/2, Part One
Discussing 8 1/2, Part Two

Antagony & Ecstasy:
In Which All Our Dreams And Hopes Are Broken

Common Sense Movie Reviews:
Review of 8-1/2

The Movie Encyclopedia
Review of 8-1/2

John Likes Movies
Review of 8-1/2

Cinemascope:
Review of the film 8-1/2

A Life In Equinox
Review of the film 8-1/2

Screen Insight
Review of the film 8-1/2

The Predictability of Stupidity: Movie Reviews
Review of the film 8-1/2

Another review from the blog Confessions of a Film Philistine

Another review from Korova Theater Presents

Video review from Deep Focus Lens:

Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960)

La Dolce Vita is another classic film celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

A few weeks ago, Oct 30, 2010 to be precise, Fellini's film had a special anniversary screening at a Rome film fest where American director Martin Scorsese appeared in-person to introduce the film. It's been restored once again with 10 additional minutes of footage, most likely trims to shorten the film. (Read the report from the Associated Press) This is indeed intriguing. I'm assuming a new DVD will be released in the future with this footage.

My first viewing of this film was in a film appreciation course taught by Constance Markey who co-authored the 1978 book, "Federico Fellni: A Guide to References and Resources". For further insight, I like Roger Ebert's 1997 review of this movie, published just a few days after the passing of Marcello Mastrioanni in December 1996. Ebert said how he saw this movie at several points in his life; each time he saw something different about the main character. ¹ His essay helped me understand this movie, and I will be referencing it a few times in this post.

A NEW KIND OF CINEMA

Phillip French, writing in The Observer a few years ago, wrote that Fellini ²

"introduced a new kind of cinema appropriate to a country that had emerged from fascism, the Second World War and post-war poverty to embrace (at least in Rome and the north) a glitzy affluence and a changed set of values that challenged Catholic morality."

Bosley Crowther's review in the New York Times said, ³

"Dignity is transmuted into the sensational. Old values, old disciplines are discarded for the modern, the synthetic, the quick by a society that is past sophistication and is sated with pleasure and itself."

RISE OF TABLOID MEDIA AND MODERNIZATION

Set in Rome in 1959, Marcello Mastroiani plays a tabloid reporter who mingles with high and low society, aristocrats and outcasts, movie stars and peasants. He is a man who observes, and through Marcello and his sidekick photographer, Paparazzo (inspiration for the word "paparazzi") we are introduced to a number of characters.

Fellini had been living in Rome for 10 years - all through the 1950s - and had been observer like Marcello. He saw Italy rise into a more prosperous society after WWII. He would have met characters like we meet in this film, having been around people involved with the media.

It was during this time that a scandal took place in Italy, when in 1954 Italian fashion model Willma Montesi was found dead on a beach and a number of high society people were put in the spotlight. Though there is no direct parallel to the so-called "Montesi Affiar" in La Dolce Vita, there is a fashion model, a high society scandal, and a death on the beach. I'm sure Fellini was somewhat inspired by these events, and I think Italian and European viewers may have drawn the connections as well.

Another Italian scandal was an inspiration for this film. In 1950, Italian writer Cesare Pavese committed suicide at the age of 40. Pavase was schoolmates with Tullio Pinelli, the co-screenwriter of La Dolce Vita. Pinelli wrote the character of "Steiner" with Pavase in mind.

CHANGES IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

This film came out right after the papacy of Pope Pius the 12th, who had been pope for almost 20 years and all through WW2. His death in 1958 marked an end of an era, not just in Rome but worldwide. This was also the era of what is called Vatican II, where new regulations and procedures involving how the masses are said were introduced. For example, in English speaking countries such as America, more Catholic services could now be heard in English, and not Latin, which was a departure from centuries of tradition.

A COMMENT ON SOCIETY

The film has been interpreted to be critical of various society groups - the upper class, the lower class, the media, and the Catholic Church. People didn't like how Rome's society was portrayed, but I think Fellini is commenting on it, and the fact that people are turning away from the church and embracing more of sin. The hedonism portrayed in the film was a bit disturbing for its time, and it still is depressing to see the lead fall from grace, or rather, fall from potential grace.

THE OPENING SCENE

The opening scene establishes the Rome setting and establishes that Marcello is some sort of wild documentarian. The people who are carrying the statue are doing their job moving the sculpture of Christ. The immature ones that Fellini focuses on are Marcello and his crew. What publication they are working for is still a mystery. Fellini only wants us to know that Marcello is a guy who gets around, and he does, especially with the ladies.

In the film, Marcello is "turning away" from Christ (as his helicopter crew wants to flirt with the women) and instead, they turn to womanizing/sin. Sort of sums up the film. At least that is how I took this to mean, and I think it's close to what Fellini is trying to express. I don't think he's mocking Christ or Catholicism, he's just making an observation of what people are doing in Rome, and sadly, the Catholic church is reduced to the sidelines for many people.

At the time, some devout Catholics saw this opening scene as a parody presentation of Christ's second coming and found this to be blasphemous, especially since Fellini intended this movie to be a dark comedy. ⁴ I can understand this sensitivity because I have studied Catholic theology and have spent many years with Catholic people, teachers, and leaders.

Iconic representations are important to many Catholics; it's been a tradition for centuries. While watching the opening sequence, I recalled the enormous 33-foot statue of the Virgin Mary that travelled through Chicago in 1999 and 2000. She was called "Our Lady of the Millennium", and many Catholic churches in Chicago had the statue on their premises for a few weeks at a time. You can see some color photos of this taken by Oscar Mendez See Photos here. (Courtesy of Flickr) I had always wondered how the statue got around, so this sequence sort of answered that for me. To my knowledge, when this film was released in 1960 the Pope did not issue any death threats to Fellini nor any one associated with the film to cause anyone to go into hiding. I mention that because I thought of what would happen If Fellini included anything in the film that could be interpreted to be critical about Islam or showed any representations of Mohammed in the film. The ramifications would be very different.

STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

Allegorical: with this film, Fellini once again succeeds in making us think of the deeper meaning underneath what we are seeing on the screen.

Editing: There are quick jump cuts from one scene to the next without a sense of elapsed time. Because of these startling cuts, the movie lost me at times. Some other directors use this technique and I'm not a big fan of it.

Breaking the fourth wall: One character speaks directly to the camera to us, the viewers.

Other Fellini Films: It might help to have seen La Strada and/or I Vitelloni before watching this film. There's a bit of Zampano (from La Strada) in the Marcello character, and a bit of Fausto (from I Vitelloni).

POP CULTURE REFERENCES

A number of topical inside references may fly over a casual viewer's head. In the famous interview scene with bombshell Sylvia (Anita Eckberg) one of the reporters asks her about what the thinks about "neo-realism", a genre some critics have associated Fellini's early pictures with.

Toward the end of the film, Marcello mentions the young American actor John Barrymore (Drew's father) who actually had something of a buddy career in the late 50s and early 60s (even in Italian films) before he ruined his own life. (I will discuss more about him at the end of the post)

SEVEN DAYS?

It's been written that this film takes place over a period of 7 successive days. Really? I didn't pick up on that when I first watched. To me, it seemed like the film could span a month or even a year.

THE TITLE

For the longest time I kept thinking of how the title fits with the story, and I concluded that it must be the name of the gossip magazine that he works for: "The Sweet Life" Magazine. Well, that's my take at least.

THE SEVEN DEADLY EPISODES?

There are a number of episodes throughout the three hour epic. Some critics have suggested that all seven deadly sins can be found, but I haven't studied the film enough to agree with it. Ebert felt the same way when we wrote about this in his 1997 column. ⁵

SATIRE AND SYLVIA

I love the episode with Sylvia, the Marilyn Monroe-esque movie star. Marcello and Paparrazzo are there to greet her as she steps off the plane. It is interesting Fellini satire. Here we have a blond, buxom Swedish movie star visiting Italy and she's the toast of the town. Italian men loved their blond Swedish women, and I think that's the message of this sequence. I love how Marcello becomes so smitten with Sylvia that he goes out of his way to find some milk for the stray kitten she picks up. That's a classic moment. I think an entire movie could be made from this one episode.

THE SAD LIFE

Other episodes reveal more of Marcello. We are introduced to Marcello's girlfriend, an emotional basketcase, who he later verbally abuses. Then Marcello has a one night stand with a high society woman (Anouk Aimee) who, like him, is a game player. A modern film that reminded me of this sequence is Up In the Air.

We also meet Marcello's father who comes to town to get away from Marcello's mother, and to drink his cares away. In this sequence we learn that Marcello is not close at all with his father and that his family life is a wreck, which says alot I think about why Marcello is the way he is.

THE ANGEL AND MOMENTS OF INSPIRATION

We meet another acquaintance, Steiner (Alain Cuny), who greets Marcello warmly, in a church. This is the only time we see Marcello in a church.

Steiner and invites Marcello to a housewarming gathering and introduces him to his children. Steiner represents someone that Marcello can look up to, and appears to have it all together. Steiner even encourages Marcello to find better work than writing for a gossip magazine, and encourages him to pursue writing a book he's been working on for years.

This encounter with Steiner leads to one of the most interesting scenes in the film. We see Marcello off relaxing at at beach resort working on his book after he's been inspired by Steiner. He meets a young blond girl and calls her an angel, who he sees again later in the film.

THE FALSE VISION

One episode doesn't seem to be as connected to the rest (or is it?) is the one where Marcello and his girlfriend travel to the remote village to cover a supposed miracle that has taken place, a vision of the Blessed Mother (Mary, Jesus' mother).

It's been reported that two children see the vision, and it's Marcello's job to try and figure out what's going on. When we do see the little kids, they are running to and fro and giggling as they proclaim "there she is!" in every possible direction.

It is all a silly set-up, yet a mass of people still believe it. It's like that with almost any "vision". I don't think this sequence is a direct criticism of religion, but rather a criticism of those people who will exploit people's sensibilities, a theme of Elmer Gantry which came out around the same time in America.

Ebert wrote of the vision as "an idealized woman" who represents "the hope that she can solve every problem".⁶

In this sequence, I think there is something to the part where Marcello's girlfriend prays. She wants to believe in something, and something spiritual happens inside of her that causes her to pray that Marcello will propose. Fellini makes this painfully obvious to the viewer that she wants to settle down and start a family. But Marcello is not in the same world. Later in the film, she pleads with him again, but he kicks her out of the car and calls her a whore. It's a really sad and depressing part of the film when this happens. We are left to assume that Marcello's girlfriend has given up on life - and prayer - too.

THE SEA CREATURE (DEMON?) AND MARCELLO'S DARK DESCEND

Marcello's world is shattered when one of his friends commits suicide. He has given up on writing and has become a seedy publicity agent who begins to hang around a group of pleasure seekers, leading to a life of lasciviousness.

One day a large sea creature washes up on the shore, and Marcello and his entourage go to check it out. If you didn't know from mythology or theology that a leviathan represent the demonic, this sequence might not make as much sense. It's also interesting that Fellini ends the movie on the beach, just as he did in La Strada. In a way, it's almost the same ending. The leviathan washing up on the shore represents the lowest point in Marcello's life. The angel he sees at the end represents his only link to hope, to salvation, a second chance, which he turns away from.

Ebert wrote that he felt the opening and closing scenes are symmetrical, and the two main objects are meant to be symbols: ⁷

"the statue "beautiful'' but false, the fish "ugly'' but real. During both scenes there are failures of communication. The helicopter circles as Marcello tries to get the phone numbers of three sunbathing beauties. At the end, across a beach, he sees the [angelic] girl...[yet] he does not remember, shrugs, and turns away."

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT MARCELLO, JOHN DREW BARRYMORE, AND ZAMPANO

I am reminded once again of what happened to John Drew Barrymore, who is mentioned by Marcello near the end of the film, remarkably. Barrymore had all kinds of drug, alcohol, and domestic abuse problems before he became homeless and died without a pot to pee in. I see the Marcello character suffering a similar fate. At the end, he really looks like he could be dead in a few years. Of drugs. Of disease. Of suicide. I think Fellini is trying to tell us that there's nothing we can do for him. He ends up like a dog, just as his girlfriend predicted.

Ebert called this film "a cautionary tale of a man without a center". ⁸ I agree with that. It made me think again about La Strada and Zampano at the end. I wondered if he killed himself after the last scene. He could have, rather than living with the guilt and emotional torment.

La Dolce Vita is a prophetic film, in more ways than one. It's a unique work of art that could be be studied and analyzed for years to come.

The church where Marcello meets Steiner is the San Giovanni Bosco in the Tuscolano suburb.
It was built in 1957-58 in a monumental style of the Fascist period.

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References:

1. Roger Ebert. "The Great Movies: La Dolce Vita". Chicago Sun-Times. January 5, 1997

2. Philip French. “Italian Cinema’s Sweet Success”. The Observer. 17 Feb 2008.

3. Bosley Crowther. "La Dolce Vita: Fellini Film Lives Up To Foreign Hurrahs". The New York Times. April 20, 1961.

4. French.

5. Ebert

6. ibid.

7. ibid.

8. ibid.

Additional Reserarch:

Richard Wrigley. Cinematic Rome. Troubador Publishing. 2008.

Gregory D. Black. The Catholic Crusade Against the Movies, 1975. Cambridge University Press. 1998.

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Note: this post has been submitted to a special series of posts devoted to understanding Catholicism at Jackie's blog My Mother Wears Combat Boots. The series is called Catholicism 101 and if you are interested in Catholicism you can check out more here: http://2jackies.blogspot.com/2010/12/catholicism-101.html

La Strada (1954)

In Fellini's masterpiece, La Strada (The Road), Anthony Quinn plays a traveling performing artist, the great Zampano, and his sidekick is Gelsomina, played beautifully by Guiellta Massina. They travel from place to place. At one circus they meet a daredevil clown named "Il Matto"/"The Fool" played by Richard Basehart, who has a pivotal scene with Gelsomina. Fellini insisted on having Quinn and Basehart in these roles; he thought they were perfect for these parts, and I agree, they are. Their dialogue is dubbed by Italian actors (actually all the dialogue is dubbed, even the Italian-language roles) and their appearances made this an international hit film.

Some think this sequence is critical
of religion because it shows the
procession in a pompous way.
I didn't take it that way.
I think this scene shows further
development of her
character's spirituality and morality.

There's much that could be written about this allegorical film, and much has. The first time I saw this was in a film appreciation class devoted to Fellini. The course instructor said that ever since the movie came out, people have been arguing over its meaning.

In this post, I will share my take on some of the scenes discussed in the class, especially those that have kept me thinking ever since I first saw it. Note: there will be spoilers ahead.



To me, Gelsomina represents impressionible, childlike innocence. When she first watches Zampano perform, she doesn't even know how to react, and looks around for the cue of others. Zampano and The Fool can represent two sides of the nature of man, the bad and the good.

Here are some other thought provoking questions that I continue to ask myself about this film.
This is sometimes described as a "neorealist" film. Is it really?

My take: No. In a neo-realistic film you will find a political message and/or a statement about society, and we don't see that in this film. Like in I Vitelloni, this film is has no specific setting, and could take place in a number of locales.


How did Rosa die?

I might have missed it, but I don't think it was explained. Could Rosa have been beaten to death by Zampano? It's possible.

During the wedding scene, what did you make of the part when the little kids take Gelsomina up to see the little boy in the attic, and she looks at him and smiles? Why is she so interested in him?

I think the boy reminded her of herself when she was his age. I think she might have been bedridden and hidden from other people too. I thought there would be a follow up scene with Gelsomina going back up to see him again, but Fellini doesn't show the upstairs room again. It's interesting to note that right after this scene, Gelsomina decides to run away from the brutal Zampano. Something inside of her told her to get out.

What did you make of Catholic procession scene?

Why does Fellini frame the shot like this?

It looks like Fellini filmed a real procession here for this sequence. Such processions can be found in Mexico and other countries with a large Catholic population. In this part of the story, Gelsomina has escaped from Zampano, and she is experiencing a new freedom for the first time. She's also alone for the first time, and very impressionable. I love the shots of her delighting in a small bug she picks from the ground, or looking into a storefront. Such an innocent creature. I think this scene is meant to show her budding spirituality. Fellini implies that she goes to the mass because we see the inside of the church, and the scene cuts; we don't see Gelsomina praying or experiencing the mass. I also find this overheard shot with the saloon's sign to be an interesting juxstaposition; why does Fellini frame this shot this way? Perhaps it is to show that Gelsomina could head down several roads now that she is free from Zampano – she could become involved with the church, perhaps play music or even become a nun herself, or she could choose to be a saloon performer, and associate with a different crowd.

When Gelsomina and Zampanò spent the night in the convent, did they steal the silver?

I think they did, which is why she cries when they pull away from the convent. Zambano was so forceful that he likely forced her into stealing them. Fellini never shows them doing the deed (or not doing it).

Why does The Fool tease Zampano?

I'm not sure why. Fellini only tells us that they knew of each other before, and they clearly don't like each other when they are reunited. I think Zampano must have said or done something to him in the past to make him disrupt the circus like that. It could have been a physical fight, or he might have said something to really offend him.

Why does Zampanò go to the beach at the end? And why does he look into the sky?

I think he's suddenly realizing that he's totally alone in the world. This might even be a spiritual moment for him. Why does he go into the water? I think perhaps he wanted to go to the beach where Gelsomina died, so he could be there in some way to pay his respects. Some people in the class though he was trying to cleanse himself, which is why he walks into the water, but I don't think so. He breaks down because this is the lowest point in his life. He's in so much inner pain. I think he's realizing what Gelsomina really meant to her. Also, I'm wondering if he felt the same way when Rosa died. It's interesting that the movie begins and ends on the beach.

Another review from the blog Wide Screen World

Another take from the blog Confessions of a Film Philistine

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Note: this post has been submitted to a special series of posts devoted to understanding Catholicism at Jackie's blog My Mother Wears Combat Boots. The series is called Catholicism 101 and if you are interested in Catholicism you can check out more here: http://2jackies.blogspot.com/2010/11/catholicism-101_25.html

I Vitelloni (1953) by Fellini

Italian. 101 Minutes. Directed by Federico Fellini. Beautiful music score by Nino Rota.  Starring Franco Fabrizi (1926-1995), Alberto Sordi (1920-2003), Franco Interlenghi (1931 - )

Fellini's comedy-drama about a group of five slacker best friends in a post WWII Italian town.  The title translates into "good-for-nothings".  In America, these guys might be called "bums", or even "mama's boys". They are healthy young men, and have no excuse not to look for a job. They just lack ambition. When one character does find a job, he gets fired soon afterward due to his misbehavior. So they continue to walk the streets, shoot pool, and pretty much waste time.   A song by The Dave Matthews Band came to my mind after seeing this film, "Wasting Time".

The men in the movie are old enough to have served in the war, but there is no mention of WW2 in this film. I Vitelloni is often called a "neo-realist" film, but there is debate about that. Films usually considered neo-realist are usually grittier (Open City, The Bicycle Thief ), have more of a political message, and are not as off-beat as I Vitelloni. .

The characters are all interesting.

There is a playwright character, Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste), who dreams his plays will one day get noticed. In one sequence, he meets an actor he admires and who expresses great interest in his work. You'll have to see the movie to find out what happens next.

Fellini cast his own brother Riccardo Fellini as another member of the group. (Riccardo resembles his brother, actually) In one scene, Riccardo expresses his dissatisfaction with his town by calling it "a rat hole". His character is not full developed, and we know the least about him. However, I don't think this is a major flaw of the film.

The character with the most screen time is the character of Fausto, a real ladies' man. He's played by the actor Franco Fabrizi . Even when married (and with a child to support) he still can't give up his womanizing.

Many filmmakers were inspired by this film. Some of Woody Allen's characters can be found in the men of I Vitorelli, such as Leopoldo (and his encounter with the director) and Fausto, who has been compared to Judah in Crimes and Misdemeanors.  George Lucas also loved this film; the episodic storytelling and hijinks of the immature characters influenced his American Graffiti. And the opening narration where the characters are introduced is just like how Martin Scorsese opened Goodfellas

I think Fellini's own personality can be found in several of these characters. Certainly the writer Leopoldo. Maybe a little of the womanizing of Fausto, who has a conscience in the form of his best friend Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi). I think Moraldo is Fellini. Both despise the hypocrisy and laziness of those around him, and both have bigger dreams somewhere else, in another town (Fellini loved Rome, of course)

There is another minor character a young boy who befriends Moraldo named Guido. Could this be the Guido who grows up to be the character in 8-1/2? An interesting thought. One of the last shots of the film shows him walking on a train rail into the distance, and it sort of reminded me of the end of a Chaplin film.

Though the film doesn't discuss the war, there are a few elements that remind us that the film takes place in post war Italy. First of all, the poor economic conditions. Also, the characters in the film talk about Esther Williams, Ginger Rogers, and other American movie stars. This was a period where Italians were enjoying American films for the first time in years because such films were not brought into Italy under Mussolini.

Other than some of these elements, I think the human nature of I Vitelloni is timeless, and this story could really take place in any decade, even in modern times. As mentioned previously, It's almost a statement (Fellini's statement) against the lack of ambition of these characters, and Fellini (a real life go-getter) is sort of critical of it. The Moraldo character represents this. However, it does make you think about families in general as well.

In American society these days, if a young man in his 20s or 30s is single and lives in the basement of his parent's house, that raises a "red flag" among some single women. They're laughed at. Single women want a "real man". But in some cultures, living with your family is perfectly acceptable.

There's a great scene in I Vitelloni where Alberto Sordi's sister storms out of the house and leaves town, and Sordi is left to be the sole caretaker for his aging mother. Without a job, he is faced with the reality that he needs to find work - and put down the bottle. Scenes like this show that these characters have heart, and are devoted to their families (Although Fausto remains questionable). Additionally, religious characters for the most part are treated with reverence and respect in this film (Fellini is a bit more critical of the Roman Catholic church in his later films).

This is a fascinating movie, filled with emotional dramatic moments, balanced with humor and comedic touches that are very funny. (Available on DVD/Netflix).