‘I vitelloni‘ is the second feature film directed alone by Federico Fellini, in 1953. It is a combination of neo-realist cinematography, social satire and character comedy, in which Fellini already demonstrates a perfect mastery of the means of expression, of the choice and control of the actors, of combining visual composition with the expressiveness of the music (composed by Nino Rota). It is a film full of humanity and sensitivity, which already predicts many of the major obsessions in the masterpieces that will follow and the evolution of the filmmaker from neo-realism to surrealism and to the magic of performances. In the end, it’s a film that doesn’t show its age and remains quality entertainment more than seven decades after it first hit the screens.
The story takes place in a small provincial Italian town by the sea. World War II has been over for less than a decade, but on the surface, nothing remembers it. Life goes on apparently normally, the ruins have been cleared, the dead buried and forgotten, and no one remembers the years of dictatorship or war. The economic situation is stable enough to allow the group of five men who are the film’s heroes to live, in their mid-thirties, on their parents or sisters backs, to unenthusiastically search or not search for a job, spending their times in cafes or chasing local or visiting women, the young or the not so young ones. The unofficial leader of the group, Fausto, gets Sandra, the sister of Moraldo – another member of the gang, pregnant and is forced to marry her. At the intervention of his father-in-law, he is employed in a shop, works without enthusiasm and is quick to make advances to the boss’s wife. Marriage did not change him into a faithful man, but other events will cause him to reconsider his attitude.
The dominant feeling experienced by the film’s heroes is boredom. Portraying bored heroes on screen is a big challenge for screenwriters and directors, as they risk to pass the sentiment to their audiences, but Fellini was already on the path that would make him a master at tackling such situations. He succeeds perfectly by introducing scenes of the popular dance parties, theater and carnival events that would become an integral part of the thematic and aesthetic of his filmography and emphasizing character development. It’s an example of classic melodramatic cinematography, but it works emotionally because each of the actors understands and lives his or her character perfectly. Among the actors, the audience has the best chance of recognizing Alberto Sordi, who was already quite well known and would become one of the great actors (especially in comedies) of Italian cinema of the 60s and 70s . However, the entire team of actors is formidable, and the characters of the film would become points of reference not only in Fellini‘s filmography but also in the world cinema, from the angry young men of the 50s, passing through the beatniks and the heroes of the French New Wave in the 60s and reaching to the hippies and protestors of the 70s. And thus, the comedy of characters takes on the substance of social satire, more subtle and powerful even than many contemporary neo-realist films. ‘I vitelloni‘ – a film to be searched for, found and enjoyed.