I vitelloni (1953)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini (story) &
Ennio Flaiano (story) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A character study of five young men at crucial turning points in their lives in a small town in Italy.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Group | Sister | Coming Of Age | Adult

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Franco Interlenghi	...	Moraldo Rubini
Alberto Sordi	...	Alberto
Franco Fabrizi	...	Fausto Moretti
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Leopoldo Vannucci
Riccardo Fellini	...	Riccardo
Leonora Ruffo	...	Sandra Rubini (as Eleonora Ruffo)
Jean Brochard	...	Francesco Moretti
Claude Farell	...	Olga
Carlo Romano	...	Michele Curti
Enrico Viarisio	...	Signor Rubini
Paola Borboni	...	Signora Rubini
Lída Baarová	...	Giulia Curti (as Lida Baarowa)
Arlette Sauvage	...	La sconosciuta del cinema
Vira Silenti	...	Gisella
Maja Nipora	...	Caterina

Also Known As:

Les inutiles (France)
Les vitelloni (France)
Spivs
The Young and the Passionate
Vitelloni

Runtime:

Argentina:101 min | Germany:100 min | USA:104 min | Italy:107 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:U (re-release) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Peg-Film, Roma

Trivia:

At the end of the film, when Moraldo is saying good-bye to the young boy from the train, his "Good-by, Guido" is actually the dubbed voice of director, Fredrico Fellini. It is believed that Fellini did this to emphasize the fact that the film was autobiographical.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alex in Wonderland (1970)

Scorsese Knows Best

I first saw this film as a college student in an Italian Cinema class. I was impressed then, and recently saw it again and was touched anew by these characters.

Then I noted that Martin Scorsese, in his documentary about Italian film on Turner Movies Classics ("My Voyage to Italy") names this film as a huge inspiration for his film "Mean Streets" -- and I felt totally exonerated that I had always placed this film up there with La Strada, 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, and Amarcord.

Scorsese sets the record straight about how these characters are successfully fleshed out -- including Moraldo, the Fellini autobiographical character. This is a film of simple beauty, and while it may lack the complex allegorical meanings of La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, the story more than delivers in its straight forward approach to story telling.

Forget Diner (a decent movie), Slackers, Clerks, and any other "slacker/loafer" movie; I Vitelloni transcends the genre -- and it is a true classic.

Rent this film - it will not let you down.