All Italian men are babies! At least this is the message I percieved from Fellini's I Vitelloni. Throughout the film, the five male characters are portrayed in a manner that best shows their childish identities. Fausto, just learning of his new duties as a store clerk, reveals signs of frusteration and fear as his father-in-law leaves him with his new boss, a scene not much unlike that of a 5 year old leaving his/her mother on the first day of pre-school. Furthermore, Fellini also uses Fausto's relationship with his father to show the truly childish nature of this "spiritual leader". Disappointed in his son's lack of maturation, Fausto's father beats his son with a belt in an attempt to punish him for his infidelities and convert him into a man of integrity. Does this method work? The audience, given a closer look at the life of Fausto, is led to believe that, while the beating may be justified, will most likely not work. Time after time, Fausto and his friends swear redemption, however, time and time again, they all fall. Leopoldo fails due to his fear of success, Alberto; in his inablity to achieve healthy relationships with his mother and sister, and Fausto's inability to devote himself to his wife and child. However, the curse of Fausto and his friends is not that of failed fantasies, the curse of most Fellini characters, but instead, each other. The male character's inablity to leave the childish group is the cause for their cowardice in living better lives. Alas, Fellini, as he has done with The White Sheik and Variety Lights, worships his character's curses and bases his film's entire plot on the irony and comedy in which these impercations provide.
A scene I believe to be worth noting was that which took place at the beach. Alberto, taking the role of leader in the absence of Fausto, leads the group in the monontony of a winter-kissed beach. I felt as if I could actually feel the sadness in the boredom of these men's lives. Most certaintly a scene worth watching again!
3 comments:
I really can't get over how much Fellini seems to forgive the weaknesses and sins of his typically "dumb" characters - he takes their failings and makes them into sympathy-earning, if not loveable, people!
I agree. I think Fellini's fansanation with Clowns, a normally scary and tainted comedic profession, greatly influenced his dark humored sensitivity to his "dumb' characters.
I agree that Fausto was like a child, made even more clear by his father beating him as if he were a young boy, but I think that the statement "all Italian men are babies" is a bit too harsh. The stress on family is huge in Italy, so Alberto's undoing about his sister leaving and his mother's anguish were just in response to that.
Post a Comment