An Average Little Man

An Average Little Man
(Un borghese piccolo piccolo)

Italian film poster
Directed by Mario Monicelli
Produced by Aurelio De Laurentiis
Luigi De Laurentiis
Written by Vincenzo Cerami
Sergio Amidei
Mario Monicelli
Starring Alberto Sordi
Shelley Winters
Romolo Valli
Vincenzo Crocitti
Music by Giancarlo Chiaramello
Cinematography Mario Vulpiani
Edited by Ruggero Mastroianni
Distributed by Cineriz
Release dates
  • 17 March 1977 (1977-03-17)
Running time
 118 minutes
Country Italy
Language Italian

An Average Little Man (Italian: Un borghese piccolo piccolo, literally meaning a petty petty bourgeois, also known in English as A Very Little Man) is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Vincenzo Cerami. The first hour is a fine example of commedia all'italiana but the second part is a psychological drama and a tragedy. The film was an entrant in the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.[1]

Plot

Giovanni Vivaldi (Alberto Sordi) is a petty bourgeois, modest white collar worker nearing retirement in a public office in the capital. His life is divided between work and family. With his wife (Shelley Winters) he shares high hopes for his son, Mario (Vincenzo Crocitti), a newly qualified accountant, not a particularly bright boy who willingly assists in the efforts which his father employs to make it in the same office.

The father, in an attempt to guide his son, emphasizes the point of practicing humility in the presence of his superiors at work, and he enrolled himself in a Masonic lodge to help him gain friendships and favoritisms that, at first, he would never hope to have.

Just as the attempts of Giovanni Vivaldi seems to turn to success, his son Mario is killed, hit by a stray bullet during a shootout that erupts following a robbery in which the father and son are accidentally involved.

Misfortune and sufferings consequently distort the lives, beliefs and morality of the Vivaldis. The wife of Giovanni becomes ill, loses her voice and becomes seriously handicapped. Giovanni, now blinded by grief and hatred, throws himself headlong into an isolated and desperate quest. He identifies his son's murderer, abducts him, takes him to a secluded cabin and submits him to torture and violence, eventually bringing the killer of his child to a slow death.

Then, for Giovanni arrives - at his set date - his retirement and, only a day later, the death of his wife who had by now been overcome by her disability.

Giovanni is now prepared with serenity and resignation to live into old age, but a spontaneous verbal confrontation with a young idler revives in him the role of an executioner who will, presumably, kill again.

Cast

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: An Average Little Man". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  2. 1 2 Enrico Lancia. I premi del cinema. Gremese Editore, 1998. ISBN 8877422211.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/29/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.