I VITELLONI (DVD) DVD

I Vitelloni
Italian maestro Federico Fellini's first international success is a nakedly autobiographical film that bears many of the formal and thematic concerns that recur throughout his work. Set in the director's hometown of Rimini, I Vitelloni follows the lives of five young vitelloni, or layabouts, who while away their listless days in their small seaside village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the leader of the pack, marries his sweetheart, but finds himself constantly distracted by other women. Meanwhile, would-be playwright Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) continues work on his dreary plays, dreaming of staging them one day. Clownish Alberto (Alberto Sordi) still lives at home with his mother and sister, Olga (Claude Farell), while boasting of preserving the family honor by watching over her. While the movie seems to pay little attention to Riccardo (Riccardo Fellini) and Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi), the latter eventually emerges as its key character, plainly serving as Fellini's alter ego. Stuck in adolescence, the five friends stumble into various misadventures, as they seek to spice up their uneventful provincial lives. Ultimately, one of them breaks free from their self-imposed paralysis and moves on, leading to one of the most poignant farewell sequences in film history. A hit in Italy upon its release, I Vitelloni secured Fellini's reputation as an up-and-coming talent, while also introducing its title into Italian vernacular. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide

Cast Alberto Sordi as Alberto Franco Interlenghi as Moraldo Franco Fabrizi as Fausto Leopoldo Trieste as Leopoldo Leonora Ruffo as Sandra Riccardo Fellini as Riccardo Lida Baarova as Guilia Arlette Sauvage as Woman in the Cinema Maja Nipora as Actress Jean Brochard as Fausto's Father Claude Farere as Alberto's Sister Carlo Romano as Michele

Crew Mario Chiari - Art Director Federico Fellini - Director Rolando Benedetti - Editor Nino Rota - Composer (Music Score) Carlo Carlini - Cinematographer Luciano Trasatti - Cinematographer Otello Martelli - Cinematographer Federico Fellini - Screenwriter Ennio Flaiano - Screenwriter Tullio Pinelli - Screenwriter

I Vitelloni
This early masterpiece from Federico Fellini won the Silver Lion at the 1953 Venice Film Festival and inaugurated a decade-long stretch that cemented his status as a cinematic giant. A thinly veiled memoir by this most autobiographical of filmmakers, I Vitelloni follows the meanderings of a group of five friends -- the titular vitelloni, or layabouts -- who linger in an adolescent limbo in their parochial seaside town. Fellini employs an episodic narrative and slow tracking shots to capture beautifully the ebb and flow of his characters' aimless lives. For a movie about arrested development and paralysis, it's irrepressibly giddy. I Vitelloni evinces Fellini's career-long obsession with the carnival and performance. An impromptu street mambo is the kind of delirious throwaway moment that Fellini practically invented, while the movie's set piece, a grand masquerade ball, prefigures the parties in future Fellini films. Considering it was only his third directorial outing, the movie is remarkable for how fully formed it seems. From the cozily recognizable strains of Nino Rota's score to the festive mise-en-scene, I Vitelloni is unmistakably Fellini-esque. Amplifying the movie's familiarity is its far-reaching influence: essentially the template for all young-men-stuck-in-adolescence movies, I Vitelloni has inspired filmmakers as disparate as Martin Scorsese and Giuseppe Tornatore. Generous and ultimately heart-breaking, I Vitelloni may well be the most big-hearted of the Italian master's movies. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
 

Venice International Film Festival, Silver Lion (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: Italian Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 108 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- I Vitelloni 1. Main Title; Everybody's Here [7:32] 2. A Married Man [8:58] 3. Stuck in a Rat Hole [3:08] 4. Alberto, Riccardo and Leopoldo [1:56] 5. Moraldo Walks the Empty Streets [3:05] 6. Staring out to Sea [3:27] 7. Fausto's Return [6:56] 8. The Cinema [6:42] 9. Hair, Work and Carnival [9:42] 10. Olg leaves Home [5:58] 11. The Boss's Wife [8:07] 12. Stolen Angel [6:31] 13. Lie Upon Lie [6:25] 14. Poetic Inspiration [11:26] 15. One Woman Too Many [11:35] 16. A Mutual Understanding [3:13] 17. Going Away [2:18] 18. End Credits [:32]