Five young men in a small Adriatic town drift through their days, chasing women and avoiding work. A beauty queen's pregnancy forces one of them into marriage, but he is not ready to change. Worth watching for how Fellini ends with one friend leaving.
At a glance
I Vitelloni is a 1953 drama and comedy film directed by Federico Fellini. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 psychology and 1 editing), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Goodfellas uses several of the same techniques.
Using a group, such as a chorus or a village, that comments on events and voices the community's view, framing the main action.
How this film uses it
A narrator's voice speaks about the group and its small-town life. It frames their adventures as a shared story that the whole town tells.
Where to see it
The opening and closing: the narrator introduces the friends and then watches them drift.
Using a party or celebration as the place where normal rules are dropped and characters show who they really are. Afterwards, order often comes back down hard.
How this film uses it
At a masquerade ball, normal rules are dropped. Alberto does a surreal dance in drag, and Fausto's pursuit of Giulia gets him into trouble.
Where to see it
The carnival ball: Alberto dances in costume while Fausto chases another woman and loses his job.
Letting a character's belief about themselves undermine their talent or fortune. They wreck their own chances because of how they see who they are.
How this film uses it
Fausto sees himself as a charming ladies' man, and that image wrecks his marriage and job. He keeps chasing the next conquest as Sandra waits at home.
Where to see it
Fausto and Sandra: after the shotgun wedding he keeps cheating, and she leaves with their baby.
Stopping the picture on a single still frame for a moment. It works like punctuation to introduce a character, underline a joke or mark a turning point.
How this film uses it
Fellini stops the picture on young Guido on a railroad track. The still frame closes the film like a period at the end of a sentence.
Where to see it
The final shot: Moraldo leaves on a train, and the picture freezes on the boy Guido on the tracks.
Ending the film with one character leaving while the others stay behind. The exit shows what staying costs the rest.
How this film uses it
Moraldo boards a train out of town while his friends are still asleep. You understand what the town does to people who never leave.
Where to see it
The train: Moraldo leaves town, imagining his friends sleeping through their lives.
Questions
Keep watching
Same director
Same era
