I Vitelloni

Released Aug 26, 1953

1h 43m

Comedy

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

90%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto (Alberto Sordi) is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi) fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.

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David Stratton

The Australian

Some of Fellini's finest work and can be warmly recommended.

Jun 12, 2020

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

It's as wistful and sad as it is funny and charming, with the first of Nino Rota's great scores to keep it burbling along.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 7, 2004

Full Review

Jamie Russell

BBC.com

Proof of Fellini's early genius as a storyteller.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 3, 2004

Full Review

André Bazin

Radio-Cinéma-Télévision

Without question, few films in the history of cinema have captured their era and exercised their influence more subtly than I Vitelloni.

Oct 25, 2022

Full Review

Eugene Archer

Film Culture

As in all truly creative works, however, the significance of Fellini’s achievement goes beyond the area of form. In its final impression, Vitelloni distinctly evokes the image, not of art, but of life.

Mar 28, 2022

Full Review

Ernesto Diezmartinez

Cine Vértigo

Masterpiece. Its influence can be seen everywhere, from Mean Streets to Pixar.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 6, 2021

Full Review

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A R

A well-known theme today, I Vitelloni feels like the archetype of the late-20s disillusionment movie. A coming-of-age narrative that emphasizes the constant state of coming-of-age. I think too much time is spent on the Fausto plot, but Sandra's actress and the climax of the plot make it very watchable. Besides the Fausto of it all, this movie expertly balances directness and subtlety at every turn. The Moraldo plot especially, with so much emotion and growth exhibited in ultimately few lines. Considering when this movie came out, I'm especially impressed by the portrayal of woman. Sandra's character has depth and manages to be sympathetic as opposed to pitiable most of the time. Many of the women also see through our main cast's shenanigans and delightfully shove them off (with some obvious exceptions). It's also poignant to see Leopoldo realize the sexual harassment in the theater industry - a reality we're still experiencing in 2023. There are very few movies focusing on men experiencing harassment in general - it's usually played for laughs, and the Leopoldo scene may be interpreted that way, but it also feels definitively sinister.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/07/23

Full Review

Federico T

The definitive consecration of Federico Fellini's genius, this is the second feature-lenght film by the italian Maestro, with which he gains his first uncontested success, after the disappointing reviews of the hazardous, anarchic and surrealistic "The white sheik". Alberto Sordi is casted again and his movie career is propelled to super stardom, offering a seminal performance in which he condenses all of his mask traits, the epitome of the gallant slacker mama's boy whose limitations and mythomania cultural intoxication could mark an entire generation's failures and incapacity to take life seriously. The lesson in life is fully imparted to Franco Fabrizi's character, the unrepentant womanizer Fausto, who shines in a skilled interpretation that maintains a candor, regardless of all the wicked things he commits, that lets his character be hinged on the hope to become a better man. This movie is built upon the narrative possibilities of memories mixed with fantasy, where Fellini's autobiographical elements are fused with the power of invention that expands the provincial world which by then had never been investigated if not from a stark realistic point of view. This theme will be deepened in Fellini's subsequent work (above all, in 1973's "Amarcord") and associated with his cinematic language. The ending sums up the movie's moral, with one of these life procrastinators that finally breaks the tie and leaves towards his emancipation: as the train moves away, the camera frame reviews the others protagonists who, lying in their beds, maybe one day will be ready to embrace the cruciality of their moment in life.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/05/23

Full Review

Taylor L

In post-war Italy, young men aren't shown to be limited by the lean times or dim prospects, so Fellini presents a comedy-drama of human weakness to explain why his five young protagonists seem perpetually stuck. They wander through their lives, never attempting to find opportunities for personal growth and spurning those that live with dignity, even as the working class. His characters are essentially large children (thinking back to a climactic whipping with a belt, pleading with a parent endlessly), and are more content to live in their own dreams and in the hope they might come true. Fortunately, I Vitteloni is not just some sort of Ayn Rand wet dream where lazy layabouts get what's coming to them because of a lack of initiative or discipline, it's more a discussion of reality crashing in and the attempts that our characters make to prolong their sweet, idle delusion for as long as possible. One of Fellini's earliest mainstream successes, I Vitelloni doesn't necessarily set the high water mark for the director's sense of visual flair or his willingness to probe human weakness, but it's certainly well-executed and an indication of good things to come. The wandering plotlines and inconsistent character development (Franco Fabrizi's Fausto becomes essentially the main character by virtue of how much screentime he receives) aren't really much of a concern; if anything, they reinforce how the characters themselves choose to simply drift through life. (3.5/5)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Fra B

I've seen no movie that can make you cry and laugh at the same time; except this one, this one can.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Fellini shouldn't be so hard on all of his early work. I vitelloni (The bullocks or The layabouts), his very next picture, quietly ranks among his absolute must-sees. Though the filmmaker would frequently shirk notions of his films as autobiographical, there's little room for any such denial here. Crafted with remarkable nuance and raw humanity, the subsequent success of I vitelloni would take Fellini far. Notably, the cinema of George Lucas (particularly American Graffiti, even with its partially Italian moniker) owes much to I vitelloni in terms of thematics.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There is a lot to like about the film. However, with the overwhelming praise it receives from critics and the general public alike, I can't help to think I am missing something.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

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Federico Fellini

Director

Franco Interlenghi

Moraldo

Alberto Sordi

Alberto

Franco Fabrizi

Fausto

Leopoldo Trieste

Leopoldo

Riccardo Fellini

Riccardo

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Synopsis

Five young men dream of success as they drift lazily through life in a small Italian village. Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), the group's leader, is a womanizer; Riccardo craves fame; Alberto (Alberto Sordi) is a hopeless dreamer; Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi) fantasizes about life in the city; and Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) is an aspiring playwright. As Fausto chases a string of women, to the horror of his pregnant wife, the other four blunder their way from one uneventful experience to the next.

Director: Federico Fellini
Screenwriter: Federico Fellini, Ennio Fellini, Tullio Pinelli
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Janus Films
Production Co: Cité Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 26, 1953, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $97.9K
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.37:1)

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