Il posto (1961)

A very young college graduate attempts to obtain a position with a large corporation.

Director:

Ermanno Olmi

Writers:

Ettore Lombardo, Ermanno Olmi

Stars:

Loredana Detto, Sandro Panseri, Tullio Kezich

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Loredana Detto	...	Antonietta Masetti
Sandro Panseri	...	Domenico Cantoni

Storyline

Domenico and Antonietta are two suburban Italian youths who meet while seeking "a job for life" from a big city corporation. After a bizarre screening process made up of written exams, physical agility exercises, and interview questions such as "Do you drink to forget your troubles?" (Domenico and Antonietta are no older than 17 or 18), they land jobs in the "Technical Division" and "Typing Services" respectively. From there, Domenico works as an underutilized errand boy until a clerk position is vacated by the death of an older employee. Domenico finally takes his place in a room of 12 other clerks with a manager overseeing them from a desk at the head of the room. The film ends as Domenico ponders his fate, from behind his tiny desk at the back of the small windowless room, listening to the sound of the mimeograph machine as it runs off carbon copies next to the manager's desk.

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Plot Keywords:

desk | clerk | job | exercise | errand boy | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

13 September 1961 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Job

Filming Locations:

Meda, Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,581 (USA) (20 December 2002)

Gross:

$6,137 (USA) (27 December 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

24 Horses, Titanus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Ermanno Olmi went on to marry the female lead, Loredana Detto. She never made another film.

User Reviews

A near-masterpiece

A beautiful, sweet little neo-realist slice-of-life picture. Sandro Panseri has been taken out of school by his parents and been thrust into the working world in Milan. While applying for his first job, a job for life in an office, he meets up with a female applicant, Loredana Detto, and the two form a quick connection despite their shyness toward the opposite sex. When their jobs actually start, though, the two are separated, their brief romance begins to fade and it looks like they might never meet again. That's pretty much the whole story (we do get a lot of insights into how this job-for-life is going to go for the two protagonists based on the lives of the other office workers we observe), but as small and gentle as it is, man, does it hit hard. I mean, who hasn't had this experience of missed opportunity? And the film's observations about a life at work are spot on, too. The best film I've seen in a long while.