I Vitelloni
Composite Score: 86.37
Starring: Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi, Leopoldo Trieste, Riccardo Fellini, Leonora Ruffo, Carlo Romano, Jean Brochard, and Claude Farrell
Director: Federico Fellini
Writers: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Pinelli
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Coming of Age
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $148,421 worldwide
My take on Watching This Film:
I Vitelloni is Federico Fellini’s film about a group of five Italian young men who come of age in a small town on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The film follows friends Alberto (Alberto Sordi), Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi), Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste), and Riccardo (Riccardo Fellini) as they step into adulthood in a world with little to offer them in terms of jobs, money, or entertainment. The main focus of the dramedy is on Fausto’s shotgun marriage to Moraldo’s sister Sandra (Leonora Ruffo) after she becomes pregnant and their subsequent relational issues, as Fausto’s womanizing seems to know no bounds, on Moraldo’s disillusionment with his friends’ devil-may-care lifestyles and the limitations of their small town, and on Alberto’s struggle to prove himself to his doting mother and independent sister. It’s not a universally happy tale, as its subjects do struggle to actually attain the adulthood that they seemingly want to reach, and not all of it is wrapped up in a perfect bow at the end of the film. Still, the film’s melancholic look at the listlessness of young adulthood, particularly in postwar Italy, earned the film an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
For me, I Vitelloni tells a very honest story, celebrating the fun that can be experienced as a young adult without ever shying away from the realities of a world where jobs are scarce, money is scarcer, and legal and socially acceptable entertainment is hard to come by outside of a few celebrations throughout the year. The joys and sorrows of the crew of “layabouts” at its center make for compelling coming-of-age drama. From Alberto’s feelings of inadequacy (artfully showcased in the film’s best sequence at the Carnival celebration) to Moraldo’s desire to get away from it all to the probably unfounded hopes of Riccardo and Leopoldo to make it as bigtime artists – a singer and playwright, respectively – and even to Fausto’s pursuit of “true” love, the developments and lives of these characters feel so familiar to so many experiences that I myself have had or witnessed in others. Though none of us live in postwar Italy, the limitations of modern society are much the same with similar expectations placed on those coming of age, and the pressures can often be too much. The positive that Fellini brings with this story, though, is the reminder that it might still be possible to find happiness in this life – it just takes some maturing and breaking out of some old habits. On the flipside, Fellini is quick to never reject the wholesome hopes of his young protagonists: where lechery, laziness, and tomfoolery are generally frowned upon, he still encourages those who pursue creative outlets – writing, dancing, singing, fun, family, and the like. There’s this sense that growing up isn’t so much rejecting all things that you enjoy (as the boys think at the start of the film) as it is learning to make room for life’s necessities within those outlets of enjoyment, and possibly even taking enjoyment from them as well.
For me, the stories told in I Vitelloni present a universally relatable look at young adulthood and the changes that the world forces on us, offering the best and worst ways to handle those changes, which certainly earns it a spot among the all-time greats. Certain aspects of Fausto’s story might be a bit rushed and, therefore, problematic on a modern watch, but the overall message of the film of learning to take responsibility and controlling yourself bringing the potential for even better life remains resonant. Currently, you can stream this film on Max if you’d like to check it out.
