This film is part of the first installment of our summer series, which focuses on films about friendship.
Fellini’s first major success—and according to some, still his greatest work.
Rimini, early 1950s. Loosely based on Fellini’s own youth in this coastal town, the film follows five Vitelloni: young men with big dreams but no courage. Were they any younger, you might call them drifters or loafers—free from work or responsibility, they spend their days chasing entertainment and doing little else. But when Fausto, the group’s womanizer, is forced to marry the girl he’s gotten pregnant, things slowly begin to shift.
As only Fellini can, I Vitelloni portrays the bleakness of small-town stagnation with lightness and humor. His ironic gaze results in sharply drawn character portraits and a string of laugh-out-loud—yet subtle—situations. Nominated at the time for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and named by New York Magazine as one of the twelve greatest films of all time.