I Vitelloni
1953 · Movie · NR · 103 min · ★ 7.7 · 94% critics
In a small Italian town, five unemployed friends drift through their days dreaming of bigger lives but rarely taking action. As one of them is pushed into marriage and keeps chasing new thrills, the group’s carefree routines begin to clash with responsibility, friendship, and the uneasy question of growing up.
Also known as The Young and the Passionate · The Bullocks · The Layabouts · Spivs
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Streaming on HBO Max.
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Details
- Original title
- I vitelloni
- Years
- 1953
- Release date
- 1953-09-17
- Language
- Italian
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Critic score
- 94/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.7/10 (738 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a melancholy, sometimes funny look at aimless friends stuck between youth and adulthood, in the vein of La Dolce Vita or 8½; Not for you if you need a tight, fast-moving story.
Pros: vivid small-town atmosphere; funny, bittersweet moments; strong character study | Cons: episodic, loose plot; uneven focus on friends; some find it tedious
Themes
- friendship
- pregnancy
- ladykiller
- black and white
- blunt
- neo realism
- italian neo realism
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Writing, Original Screenplay · 1958 · nominated
Cast & crew
Franco Interlenghi
as Moraldo Rubini
Alberto Sordi
as Alberto
Franco Fabrizi
as Fausto Moretti
Leopoldo Trieste
as Leopoldo Vannucci
Riccardo Fellini
as Riccardo
Leonora Ruffo
as Sandra Rubini
Jean Brochard
as Francescco Moretti
Claude Farell
as Olga
Carlo Romano
as Michele Curti
Enrico Viarisio
as Signor Rubini
Directed by Federico Fellini