Seven years before La Dolce Vita, another of
Federico Fellini’s characters formed an innocent relationship with a youth that
may or may not signify the possibility of escape from a dead-end existence. In his
third film he drew upon his upbringing in seaside Rimini to paint a slightly
autobiographical picture of five close friends who’s get up and go has got up
and gone or, if you will, si alzò e se ne andò! I Vitelloni are
not exactly bored teenagers, they’re well into their twenties and are either
not working or still living under the assumption that life is about to start.
It takes that friendship with a young lad working early shifts at the railway
station to help one re-connect to his own youthful ambition.
As the train pulls the escaper away, the camera cuts to
the bedrooms of his four friends as the lie asleep in each case pulling away as
his momentum carries him clear of the ties that bind. It’s a neat moment and
another one of Fellini’s great endings to accompany his great beginnings…
although this is certainly one of his films that maintains narrative energy and
interest throughout with rich characters and compelling episodes in which
revelations are made and fortunes pivot.
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| Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi, Leopoldo Trieste, Riccardo Fellini and Alberto Sordi |
The subtitles translated I Vitelloni as The
Bullocks and it could also be The Idle People, not so much the
victims of post-war economic malaise as sheer boredom – anathema to Fellini who
escaped the “Italian Blackpool” for Rome in the thirties in order to study law.
The gang are stuck mostly living with parents and living the lives they have
since they were 15. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi) is their leader, handsome, stylish
and totally faithless, chasing girls with no self-control until the inevitable
happens and someone gets pregnant.
That someone is Sandra (Leonora Ruffo) who in addition to
having just won the local beauty contest, is the sister of Fausto’s best pal
Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi) who is as considerate as Fausto is wild; the kind
of guy the idiot needs and probably one of the few who would put up with prolonged
exposure. Moraldo was described by the director as being closest to his own
character although there is also a voice-over to provide additional context.
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| Fausto considering his options. |
The others in the group are Alberto (Alberto Sordi) who
has a fine singing voice, outgoing and not afraid to drag up for carnival. He
lives with his mother and sister Olga (Claude Farell) who, unlike him, has a
steady job and is also in a long-term relationship with a married man. As with
later films, the women seem far more grown up than the men who struggle with
even the basics of self-awareness and communication. Unlike her brother Olga is
desperate knowing that her prospects are bleak and that she may have to seize
the only chance she may have to get out.
Then we have Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) a would be
playwright who is awaiting his lucky break as he works away in his auntie’s
house occasionally distracted by his pretty neighbour Gisella (Vira Silenti).
He’s the most intellectual but not the smartest – as so often happens – and the
butt of the group’s jokes. His big chance comes when an old theatre star comes
to town Sergio Natali (Achille Majeroni) who leads the youngster on by allowing
him to read him his play as they wine and dine. But Natali is far more
interested in Leo than his words and as he tries to take their relationship in
a different direction in the dockland shadows, the writer finally makes his
escape.
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| Just watch the film Fausto... |
The final member is the
group is Riccardo (Fellini’s brother Riccardo) who is the least well realised
character – a good guy who greases the social wheels of the group but who
doesn’t have much of a dramatic arc. For that we need to go back to Fausto and
the Rubini family…
Fausto’s father (Jean Brochard) who still doesn’t spare
the rod for his man-child, makes sure that he marries Sandra and the couple
seem happy enough. Sandra’s father (Enrico Viarisio) gets Fausto a job at his
friend’s shop selling religious paraphernalia to nuns – hardly his dream but
then he doesn’t appear to have one, except the life of a womaniser. He goes to the
cinema with Sandra only to leave in order to pursue another woman (Arlette
Sauvage) even as his wife is engrossed in the film and the whole experience with
her husband. Fausto can’t commit even to the fantasy as the woman is just too
distracting; he plays footsie, lights her cigarette and, after his inconclusive
pursuit, returns to find Sandra outside, the film over.
Fausto flirts with the boss’s wife and ultimately loses his
job as a result, falling foul of a more solid marriage. He enlists Moraldo’s
help to steal an angel from the shop in revenge and tries to sell the statue to
a nun and then a monk. Both have enough angels already and whilst Fausto sees only
the monetary value of the piece, the “simple-minded peasant” (Silvio Bagolini)
who pushes the angel on a barrow, is in awe.
The carnival scene is the film’s centrepiece and all the
characters collide in one gloriously choreographed sequence. The camera moves
through the mass as they dance, the tickertape falls and the music is incessant.
After the ball the hangovers kick in and reality bites in the harshest of ways…
Some will grow and others will fall back in the fantasy of routine.
I Vitelloni is a fun film with a serious heart
which I guess is Frederico all over. Nino Rota’s music is here too as it would
be for decades; he weaves some gorgeous themes and as with 8 1/2, La
Dolce Vita and the rest, holds the emotional lines together through the
episodes. Not surprisingly the director called him the "most
precious collaborator" he ever had and the two work so well with Fellini often
cutting to Rota’s music, as the composer didn’t always see the visuals. That’s
a fascinating level of trust.
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