I Vitelloni (1953) - Fellini's layabout portrait breakthrough

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A pretty young woman passing creates big smiles on this wonderfully painted and colored poster for Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni

In an Italian small town a group of young men spend their days very comfortably without much in the way of means or purposes, as one of them gets pressured into marrying a local beauty, whom he has impregnated.

 

I Vitelloni is written by Ennio Flaiano (The 10th Victim/La Decima Vittima (1965)) and Italian master filmmaker, co-writer/director Federico Fellini (Variety Lights/Luci del Varietà (1950)), whose 3rd feature it was. Tullio Pinelli (Ginger & Fred/Ginger e Fred (1986)) contributed story elements. The title is an Italian slang word for a bullock or a calf, which is used to describe a layabout or slacker, a young male who revels in doing little and being unproductive.

Beginning with a beauty contest, this celebration of a young drifting lifestyle with few worries snails its way comfortably onward, rife with scenes of eagerly rambling Italians. The finest aspect of the film, Fellini's international breakthrough, is its portrait of a man, who becomes sincerely miserable when he hurts his wife, but who can nevertheless still not curtail his penchant for chasing other women. 

Reportedly semi-autobiographical, I Vitelloni may not be among the master's greatest, but it is a good film that makes for a superb watch on a lazy afternoon. 

 

Related posts:

Federico Fellini: Fellini Satyricon (1969) - Fellini's horny, ancient baccanale

Top 10: Best films about filmmaking 

Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
8½ (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece
Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria (1957) - Fellini serves private infatuation as incredible masterpiece 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain but reportedly a hit

[I Vitelloni premiered 26 August (Venice Film Festival) and runs 108 minutes. Though pressured, Fellini refused to change the title or add a bankable star to the film. Shooting took place from December 1952 - May 1953 in Italy, including in Rome, reportedly on a 'shoestring' budget. The film was a commercial and critical hit in Italy, France, sold 'huge' in Argentina, and did 'reasonable' box office in the UK and North America. The numbers are regrettably not available. It continued to live in new markets and get re-releases for decades, and has made at least 148k $ on re-releases post-2000. The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, lost to George Wells for Designing Woman. Fellini returned with a segment in Love in the City/L'amore in Città (1953) and with a proper feature with La Strada (1954). Alberto Sordi (L'Avaro (1990)) returned in Cavalcade of Song/Canzoni, Canzoni, Canzoni (1953); Franco Interlenghi (Don Matteo (2004, TV-series)) in I Vinti (1953). I Vitelloni is fresh at 100 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Vitelloni?

La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece

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One of the fabulous, glamorous posters for Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

QUICK REVIEW:

A Roman journalist spends a week chasing women, partying, interviewing a Swedish movie star, covering a religious mass hysteria and reconnecting with his father.

The 7th feature by Italian master filmmaker Federico Fellini (La Strada (1955)) is a true masterpiece and a multi-faceted salute to beauty and the myriads of variety in life; to eroticism, the woman, the city and the night.
Anouk Aimée (8½ (1963)), Marcello Mastroianni (What?/Che? (1972)) and Anita Ekberg (The French Sex Murders/Casa d'Appuntamento (1972)) are equally splendid in the film, which also has one of the most fantastic and memorable beginnings and endings in cinema history.
La Dolce Vita [which translates to 'the sweet life'] is written by Fellini, Ennio Flaiano (The Tenth Victim/La Decima Vittima (1965)), Tullio Pinelli (8½) and Brunello Rondi (Sex Life in a Women's Prison/Prigione di Donne (1974)), with uncredited work done by great Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Passolini (The Gospel According to St. Matthew/Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964)). - Don't miss this magical piece of cinema history!

Related posts:

Federico Fellini: Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
8½ (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!
Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria ((1957) - Fellini serves private infatuation as incredible masterpiece 

Anita Ekberg in Rome's Trevi fountain in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Marcello Mastroianni on the beach in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita

Here's a trailer for the film

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 19.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown (likely a big to huge hit)
[La Dolce Vita was released February 5 (Italy) and runs ca. 180 minutes. The film was mostly shot in Rome's Cinecittà studio, where more than 80 sets were reportedly created, making it a very costly film to mount. The Trevi fountain scene was, however, shot in the actual fountain, either in January or March, (sources differ), - but the water was definitely so freezing that Mastroianni had to wear a wetsuit under his costume (and chug vodka), while Ekberg completed it in just her gown. La Dolce Vita is also famous for coining the term 'paparazzi', which is the name of a tabloid character in the film. The film became a target for censorship: It was condemned by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano and banned in Spain for 15 years. But it was also hailed by scores of critics; it won the Palme d'Or in Cannes and the Best Costume Design Oscar and is recognized as one of the finest films ever. It was also nominated for direction, screenplay and art direction, which it lost to Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story, William Inge for Splendour in the Grass and The Hustler, respectively. A cost or world total for the film is not to be found online, but there seems little doubt that the film was a hit, probably a big or huge hit. La Dolce Vita is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of La Dolce Vita?

8½/Otto e Mezzo (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!

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An appropriately eclectic poster for Federico Fellini's highly eclectic 8½

8½ is Italian master filmmaker Federico Fellini's (La Dolce Vita (1960)) highly subjective film about filmmaking, and possibly also the best film about filmmaking ever made. 

Marcello Mastroianni (The Night/La Notte (1961)) plays film director Guido, who has forgotten what his next film will be about, and who has the habit of losing himself in reveries and dreams in the time leading up to the film's production.

8½'s structure and narrative remains as refreshing, modern, and fragmented today as it ever was. The film still stuns with its extraordinary language, sound and music. It is a colorful (figuratively meant, because it is in black and white), funny, chilling at one point and erotic at another, vivacious film above all.
The only thing I can say against 8½ is that I think it runs a bit long.
Fellini co-wrote the screenplay with Ennio Flaiano (La Dolce Vita), Tullio Pinelli (La Strada (1954)) and Brunello Rondi (Fellini Satyricon (1969)).

Related post:

Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Watch BFI's excellent, restored trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 3.5 mil. $ (rentals)
= Uncertain (but likely a big hit)
[8½ premiered 13 February (Rome, Italy) and runs 138 minutes. It was shot in Italy, including Rome, from May - October 1962. It was screened out of competition in Cannes (because its premiere was set at the Moscow International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prize and was met with applause from its 8,000 audiences in the Kremlin's conference hall, worrying the Soviet authorities, who reportedly interpreted the hoopla as "a cry for freedom".) The film won 2 Oscars, for Best Foreign Film and Best Costume Design B/W, and lost Best Set/Art Direction B/W to America America, Best Director to Tony Richardson for Tom Jones and Best Original Screenplay to James R. Webb for How the West Was Won. It was also nominated for a BAFTA and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. Was the film made for an at the time in Italy lavish 1 mil. $, it would count as a big hit. Fellini returned with Juliet of the Spirits/Giulietta degli Spiriti (1965). Mastroianni returned in The Organizer/I Compagni (1963), Claudia Cardinale (Brigands/Li Chiamarono... Briganti! (1999)) in masterpiece The Leopard/Il Gattopardo (1963), Anouk Aimée (Les Marmottes (1993)) in The Shortest Day/Il Giorno Più Corto (1963). 8½ is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.5 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 8½?