Amici miei (1975)

Necchi (a bar owner), Perozzi (a journalist), Melandri (an architect) and Mascetti (a broken nobleman) live in Florence. They have been friends since their youngest years and spend every ... See full summary »

Director:

Mario Monicelli

Writers:

Pietro Germi (story), Piero De Bernardi (story)

Stars:

Ugo Tognazzi, Gastone Moschin, Philippe Noiret

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Lello Mascetti
Gastone Moschin	...	Rambaldo Melandri
Philippe Noiret	...	Giorgio Perozzi
Duilio Del Prete	...	Necchi
Olga Karlatos	...	Donatella Sassaroli
Silvia Dionisio	...	Titti
Franca Tamantini	...	Carmen
Angela Goodwin	...	Nora Perozzi
Milena Vukotic	...	Alice Mascetti
Bernard Blier	...	Righi Niccolò
Adolfo Celi	...	Professor Sassaroli
Marisa Traversi	...	Bruna, l'amante di Perozzi
Maurizio Scattorin	...	Luciano Perozzi
Edda Ferronao	...	Nun
Mario Scarpetta	...	Paolini, the policeman

Storyline

Necchi (a bar owner), Perozzi (a journalist), Melandri (an architect) and Mascetti (a broken nobleman) live in Florence. They have been friends since their youngest years and spend every free moment together organizing complex and terrible jokes to all the people they meet, or just wandering around Tuscany. One of these crazy trips ends up in the hospital run by military-like Professor Sassaroli. Melandri falls in love with his wife, and steals her from the husband, much to the delight of Sassaroli himself. The relationship won't last but the Professor becomes the fifth member of the team of friends, and jokes get even more complicated and powerful.

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Plot Keywords:

group of friends | italy | joke | uncontrollable laughter | prankster | 

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Taglines:

They played together, they drank together, they whorekistand together and when the semiwattle was in crispation, they had a boobchik of a time!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mascetti uses a peculiar way of speaking referred to as "supercazzora" but when quoting the film people uses the spelling "supercazzola". From the movie is not clear enough how Ugo Tognazzi pronounced the word, but in the script and in Amici miei Atto III the correct form appears to be the former (supercazzora). On the same note, Mascetti often uses the made-up verb "brematurare" which is always mistakenly quoted as "prematurare". In the HD version the sound quality is better and Mascetti clearly uses the former spelling (brematurare).

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Connections

Featured in The Interpreter of Black and White Films (2007)

User Reviews

absolute masterpiece

OK, again another Monicelli's masterpiece (based on an idea of the genius Pietro Germi). This movie talks about: friendship, comrade's, love, sex, loneliness, betrayal, fun, sadness, death, sons. In one sentence: it talks about life.

There is a lot of FUN in this movie, as the main characters seem to never grow up, they just want to joke about everything, NOTHING is really THAT important or serious to be spared by jokes. The son of the journalist is more mature and serious than his father... remember that we are in 1975 and this is absolutely counter-intuitive!! in that period young people were fighting on the streets for freedom of thoughts, of sex, and for political reasons!! Well, in some ways young people during that period were more socially "committed" than their fathers who wanted to preserve the status quo.

In this movie however the middle-aged characters make fun of the status quo: the broken noble betrays his wife for a teen-ager, the surgeon does not care to leave the hospital in troubles for joining his friends, the journalist does not understand his son and never tries to, the architect wants to conquer the heart of a married woman, etc... it's like: "OK, you youngsters do not care about the old moral rules? we, your fathers, too, even more than you..."

It's also a sad movie, as this search for continuous fun is a sign that something is wrong in their lives. The architect leaves his new family to join the company for the joke at the train station, as he is fed up with all the problems a real and traditional family provide. Normality is boring and annoying. Fun comes from friends and from breaking the moral or society rules. It's better a good joke (even a cruel one) and have fun than keep a normal life-style and be bored (this is a philosophy that some Italians really have).

There is plenty of UNpolitically correct situations... feminist people can be very nervous seeing this movie... remember that it's a movie that reflects a particular culture, the Tuscany of almost forty years ago (the movie is set in the 60's). But real love is not banned in this movie... it's just a cynic point of view (real love ends up eventually, when it becomes normal life).

I have seen several times this movie and every time I enjoy it. Also the sequel is good, but the first is just incredible. Do not miss this movie. You'll have lots of laughs and an essay about certain Italian culture.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

18 July 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amici miei

Filming Locations:

Calcata, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

R.P.A. Cinematografica, Rizzoli Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technospes)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1