Commedia all'italiana

Commedia all'italiana (i.e. "Comedy in the Italian way"; pronounced [komˈmɛːdja all itaˈljaːna]) or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street) in 1958 and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi's Divorzio all'italiana (Divorce Italian Style, 1961).

Rather than a specific genre, the term indicates a period (approx. from the late fifties to the early seventies) in which the Italian film industry was producing many successful comedies, with some common traits like satire of manners, farcical and grotesque overtones, a strong focus on "spicy" social issues of the period (like sexual matters, divorce, contraception, marriage of the clergy, the economic rise of the country and its various consequences, the traditional religious influence of the Catholic Church) and a prevailing middle-class setting, often characterized by a substantial background of sadness and social criticism that diluted the comic contents.

What is the Commedia all'Italiana

Mario Monicelli, one of the most famous film directors of Italian comedy

As he said in an interview with the director Mario Monicelli, the Italian comedy (Commedia all'italiana) is something very simple, which is closely tied to popular culture of Italy. It is a tangle of stories of the poor and unfortunate in a highly unfortunate and negative setting, i.e. the period of poverty that followed in Europe and especially in Italy after the end of World War II. In any plot of the films of this genre, there is a group of thieves and bandits who would like to make ends meet by ramshacklely preparing a big hit. However each has its problems and its difficulties, attributable to ignorance, incompetence, inadequate means, unrequited love and many other mishaps. The whole plot of the story revolves around these seemingly unnecessary misunderstandings, allowing the viewer to have a clear and precise vision of the deficiencies of the Italians of that period and of both the gloom and joy of the whole of Italy. The group of cheaters, apparently achieving their aim with deceit and cunning, at the end of the story almost always find themselves duped and crushed economically and psychologically worse off than before. Whoever comes out best the story is always the most powerful, either in the political arena or in some other social context. What makes the viewer laugh are the jokes about the repeated blunders of the actors that would make them famous during the preparation of their shots. The element of sadness is very much present in all the stories on the theme of Italian comedy, not just the mockery of the poor people who seek to improve their situation, but also to the bitter end show a bitter smile and a dim hope of the protagonists into the future. Just think of the situation or the tragic end of the film Il sorpasso (Dino Risi) or the melancholy end of the film I soliti ignoti in which thieves have fail in their coup, losing everything they had. Another important feature of this type of comedy is the feeling, although the social condition of the people who populate the stories is extremely low, the protagonists have shown great will to live, to love, to dream, to become almost a taste of the film sentimental. What breaks this feeling is a typical Italian clumsiness or a fall, which immediately pulls the viewer a big laugh. The protagonist is at once sentimentally duped. In the sixties and seventies such plots merged with the satire. Even in these stories, such as in Signore e signori buonanotte (1976), as it denotes skill in manifesting Italian taste satirical scenes is exaggerated and extremely scratchy. The characters are targeted by powerful people or satire inept people, extremely rude, bad, almost animalistic, almost personalities related to the masks of the Commedia dell'arte. The Italian comedy ceased to exist in the eighties, by which time the principal actors had become old, replaced by a comic genre focused more on the vulgar and abusive side of the characters, which followed very American models. With the Americanized transformation of this comic genre in Italy, the kind of Commedia all'italiana finally died. The last film that famous still strongly reflects the characters of the Italian comedy is Il marchese del Grillo, directed by Mario Monicelli (1981). Alberto Sordi plays the role of a spoiled rich Marquis of Rome who is bored by the day. For this he designs jokes on the poor and the helpless for no particular end, as if they were toys from the living room. His joker cynicism is not stopped even by the power of Pope Pius VII. This film still strongly reflects the character of the average prankster kid of the sixties, who only caring about himself and what he has, not caring of others and to those most in need. Cynicism is the main theme of this film, based on a true story.

Stars

Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Alberto Sordi and Nino Manfredi were the five top stars of Italian Comedy in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by newcomers such as Stefania Sandrelli, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Catherine Spaak; or dramatic stars in comic roles such as Enrico Maria Salerno, Claudia Cardinale.

Directors

In 1961, Dino Risi directed Il sorpasso, now a cult movie, then Una vita difficile (A Difficult Life), I mostri (The Monsters, also known as 15 from Rome), In nome del Popolo Italiano (In the Name of the Italian People) and Profumo di donna (Scent of a Woman).

Monicelli's works include La grande guerra (The Great War), I compagni (Comrades, also known as The Organizer), L'armata Brancaleone, Vogliamo i colonnelli (We Want the Colonels), Romanzo popolare (Come Home and Meet My Wife) and Amici miei.

Other notable film makers of the genre were Pasquale Festa Campanile, Ettore Scola, Luigi Comencini, Steno, Antonio Pietrangeli, Nanni Loy and Lina Wertmüller, and the script writers Age & Scarpelli, Leo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Rodolfo Sonego, Suso Cecchi d'Amico, and Sergio Amidei.

Notable films

TitleYearDirectorNotable actors
Big Deal on Madonna Street1958Mario MonicelliMarcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Totò
The Great War1959Mario MonicelliVittorio Gassman, Alberto Sordi, Silvana Mangano
Il vedovo1959Dino RisiAlberto Sordi, Franca Valeri
Love and Larceny1959Dino RisiVittorio Gassman
Everybody Go Home1960Luigi ComenciniAlberto Sordi
Adua e le compagne1960Antonio PietrangeliSimone Signoret, Marcello Mastroianni, Sandra Milo
A Difficult Life1961Dino RisiAlberto Sordi
Audace colpo dei soliti ignoti1961Nanni LoyVittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Nino Manfredi
The Fascist1961Luciano SalceUgo Tognazzi, Stefania Sandrelli
Divorce, Italian Style1962Pietro GermiMarcello Mastroianni, Stefania Sandrelli
Boccaccio '701962Mario Monicelli,
Federico Fellini,
Luchino Visconti,
Vittorio De Sica
The Easy Life1962Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Catherine Spaak
The Last Judgement1962Vittorio De SicaVittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi
Mafioso1962Alberto LattuadaAlberto Sordi
March on Rome1962Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi
The Conjugal Bed1963Marco FerreriUgo Tognazzi, Marina Vlady
I mostri1963Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi
Alta Infedeltà1965Mario Monicelli, Franco Rossi, Elio Petri, Luciano SalceUgo Tognazzi, Nino Manfredi
Il diavolo1963Gian Luigi PolidoroAlberto Sordi
Il Boom1963Vittorio De SicaAlberto Sordi
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow1963Vittorio De SicaMarcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren
The Reunion1963Damiano Damiani
Seduced and Abandoned1964Pietro GermiStefania Sandrelli
Se permettete parliamo di donne1965Ettore ScolaVittorio Gassman
Il successo1965Mauro Morassi, Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Anouk Aimée
Le bambole1965Mauro Bolognini,
Luigi Comencini,
Dino Risi,
Franco Rossi
Nino Manfredi
Casanova 701965Mario MonicelliMarcello Mastroianni, Virna Lisi, Enrico Maria Salerno
The Birds, the Bees and the Italians1965Pietro GermiVirna Lisi
I complessi1965Dino Risi,
Luigi Filippo D'Amico,
Franco Rossi
Nino Manfredi, Ugo Tognazzi, Alberto Sordi
Il Gaucho1965Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Silvana Pampanini, Nino Manfredi
Io la conoscevo bene1965Antonio PietrangeliStefania Sandrelli, Ugo Tognazzi, Nino Manfredi, Enrico Maria Salerno
The Man, the Woman and the Money1965Eduardo De Filippo,
Marco Ferreri,
Luciano Salce
Marcello Mastroianni
Me, Me, Me... and the Others1966Alessandro Blasetti
L'Armata Brancaleone1966Mario MonicelliVittorio Gassman, Enrico Maria Salerno, Gian Maria Volonté
L'ombrellone1966Dino RisiSandra Milo, Enrico Maria Salerno, Jean Sorel
A Question of Honour1966Luigi ZampaUgo Tognazzi
The Tiger and the Pussycat1967Dino RisiVittorio Gassman
The Witches1967Luchino Visconti,
Pier Paolo Pasolini,
Vittorio De Sica,
Franco Rossi,
Mauro Bolognini
Silvana Mangano
La ragazza con la pistola1968Mario MonicelliMonica Vitti
Il medico della mutua1968Luigi ZampaAlberto Sordi
Il Commissario Pepe1969Ettore ScolaUgo Tognazzi
The Libertine1969Pasquale Festa CampanileCatherine Spaak
Vedo nudo1969Dino RisiNino Manfredi, Sylva Koscina
Brancaleone alle Crociate1970Mario MonicelliVittorio Gassman
Between Miracles1971Nino ManfrediNino Manfredi, Mariangela Melato
In nome del popolo italiano1971Dino RisiUgo Tognazzi, Vittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi
Secret Fantasy1971Pasquale Festa CampanileLaura Antonelli
Bello, onesto, emigrato Australia sposerebbe compaesana illibata1971Luigi ZampaAlberto Sordi, Claudia Cardinale
The Seduction of Mimi1972Lina WertmüllerGiancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
Lo scopone scientifico1972Luigi ComenciniAlberto Sordi, Silvana Mangano
Vogliamo i colonnelli1973Mario MonicelliUgo Tognazzi
Pane e cioccolata1973Franco BrusatiNino Manfredi
C'eravamo tanto amati1974Ettore ScolaVittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Stefania Sandrelli
Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August1974Lina WertmüllerGiancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
Profumo di donna1974Dino RisiVittorio Gassman
Romanzo popolare1974Mario MonicelliUgo Tognazzi, Ornella Muti
Amici miei1975Mario MonicelliUgo Tognazzi, Adolfo Celi
Brutti, sporchi e cattivi1976Ettore ScolaNino Manfredi
The Career of a Chambermaid1976Dino RisiVittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi
La stanza del vescovo1977Dino RisiUgo Tognazzi
Un borghese piccolo piccolo1977Mario MonicelliAlberto Sordi
Traffic Jam (film)1977Luigi ComenciniAlberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Stefania Sandrelli
Signore e signori, buonanotte1976Luigi Comencini , Nanni Loy, Mario Monicelli, Ettore Scola, Luigi MagniVittorio Gassman, Ugo Tognazzi, Nino Manfredi, Marcello Mastroianni
Caro papà1979Dino RisiVittorio Gassman
Amici miei Atto II1982Mario MonicelliUgo Tognazzi, Adolfo Celi
Café Express1980Nanni LoyNino Manfredi
Camera d'albergo1981Mario MonicelliVittorio Gassman, Monica Vitti

Bibliography

  • Lanzoni, Rémi Fournier (2009). Comedy Italian Style: The Golden Age of Italian Film Comedies. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1822-7.
  • Bini, Andrea (2015). Male Anxiety and Psychopathology in Film: Comedy Italian Style. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1137516886.
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