I Vitelloni
The film had been on Netflix forever and forever, I just never came around to watch it. I had no idea what the film was about, and I never really perceived myself as a Fellini fan. I know for sure that I prefer Antonioni over Fellini after all, and therefore have this tendency to assume that I’d dislike a Fellini film. But out of the 4 films I have seen by him so far, I really only disliked Roma (which I thought was a borefest, but then again I saw it many years ago). I loved “La Strada”, I loved “Amarcord” and I think “8 1/2” is a good movie. If anyone had told me that “I Vitelloni” is a film with a similar topic as “Amarcord” (small-town bourgeoisie) and in a similar style as “La Strada” (still pretty realistic!) I probably would not have hesitated to see the film right away.
Now “I Vitelloni” is one of Fellini’s minor films. Less famous, and in many ways less accomplished, the film does not shine as much as his other movies. It does not yet have Fellini’s surrealism which turns any mundane topic into something quite fascinating, but as a character study, “La Strada” is more and had much more to say. The boys in Vitelloni are rather vapid, and even though that is precisely the point, it is not exactly pleasant to see how they are walking clichés (especially Fausto and his wife and family!)
One of the main reasons why I liked “I Vitelloni” is the premise of “idle gang boys which are way too old”. They remind me a little bit of hikkikomori except that their friendships are much more similar than the one of a mafia or motorcycle gang. More interestingly, they don’t even want to defy the system – they are literally completely worthless, desiring to live a decadent, bourgeois life without working for it at all. The only guy who has a way out, Fausto, is also the one who wants it the least.
All in all, though, this is a comedy. Most of the story is pretty light, and the film has so many character-driven slice-of-life elements that it sometimes seems like it’s just an amalgam of randomness. This explains my slightly dampened enthusiasm for the film: At first, I was delighted and extremely amused, but later on there were a few scenes which downright bored me.
Personally I think “Amarcord” was better. Funnier and more creative, it is something like a better “I Vitelloni”. But that would be underrating this film, which is already unfairly neglected. I actually had lots of fun watching this little autobiographical sketch on the lifestyle of idle wannabe-boys in Rimini.