Part of Essential Fellini.
Five young men linger in a postadolescent limbo, dreaming of adventure and escape from their small seacoast town. They while away their time spending the lira doled out by their indulgent families on drink, women and nights at the local pool hall. Federico Fellini’s second solo directorial effort (originally released in the U.S. as THE YOUNG AND THE PASSIONATE) is a semi-autobiographical masterpiece of sharply drawn character sketches: skirt chaser Fausto, forced to marry a girl he has impregnated; Alberto, the perpetual child; Leopoldo, a writer thirsting for fame; and Moraldo, the only member of the group troubled by a moral conscience. An international success and recipient of the 1958 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, I VITELLONI compassionately details a year in the life of a group of small-town layabouts struggling to find meaning in their lives.
Restored by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia – Cineteca Nazionale and Istituto Luce – Cinecittà. Elements provided by RTI-Mediaset and Fondazione Museo Alberto Sordi.
“[I VITELLONI] unleashed the director's poetic/realist style, echoed perfectly in a shot of the five men at the pier, shrouded in mist and waiting for something, anything, to come along and take them away.” —Asher Luberto, L.A. Weekly “What makes I VITELLONI so resonant and lovely is the way those chaotic, festive moments are shown to be part of the basic rhythm of Italian provincial life, bursts of color and noise in a landscape of quiet workaday routine.” —A. O. Scott, New York Times Critic’s Choice “It was this ineffably poignant semi-autobiographical reverie that unleashed fully Fellini's shimmering, flowing poetic style.” —Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times “Offers us the rare chance to witness a filmmaker becoming a master filmmaker, as well as the birth of an important relationship with composer Nino Rota.” —Eleanor Ringel Cater, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
