I Vitelloni

I Vitelloni (1953)

  • 100% of critics liked it
    (23 reviews)

  • 90% of users liked it
    (5,758 ratings)

Italian maestro Federico Fellini's first international success is a nakedly autobiographical film that bears many of the formal and thematic concerns that recur throughout his work. Set in the director's hometown of Rimini, I Vitelloni follows the lives of five young vitelloni, or layabouts, who… More

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Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By
Federico Fellini
Written By
Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano
Genres
Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
In Theaters
Sep 17, 1953 Limited
On DVD
Aug 24, 2004
Janus Films

Critic Reviews

  • Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Offers us the rare chance to witness a filmmaker becoming a master filmmaker, as well as the birth of an important relationship with composer Nino Rota.

  • Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

    What stays fresh (and enhanced by the beautifully restored black- and-white print) is how so many of Fellini's gifts and obsessions are already apparent in this early work.

  • Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

    It was this ineffably poignant semiautobiographical reverie that unleashed fully Fellini's shimmering, flowing poetic style.

  • Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

    One of the screen's great portrayals of the hell-raising and malaise of young men in their 20s.

  • Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    If you have warm memories of American Graffiti, Diner, Mean Streets or even TV's Seinfeld, you owe it to yourself to see the masterpiece that inspired them all.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

  • Ken S


    Scorsese is obviously a fan of this Italian Neo-Realism classic. It's not my favorite, but it's definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

  • Stella D


    my new favorite fellini. i'm not a huge fan of his later works but mean streets is all over this. hell, the very first scene was lifted for goodfellas. tho mainly a masterpiece of neorealism, fellini's later style is evident in the carnival scene among other whimsical… More

  • Pierluigi P


    Fellini narrates his sometimes pleasent, sometimes hard youth with his peculiar friends. An overlook jewel that inspired many other, like Barry Levinson's Diner or George Lucas' American Graffiti.

  • Lanning :


    The perpetually unemployed? The eternal students? The men who didn't want to grow up? So what is the best translation for this title? The guys who wanted to drink, smoke, and shoot pool forever? <p> This is still what I would call early Fellini. Ostensibly… More

  • Eric B


    A lovely film, though it's definitely a creature of another era. This is early Fellini back in his neo-realist period, and only an isolated carnival sequence hints at the matured director's trademark sense of spectacle. I'm hardly the first to say so, but "I… More

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Cast

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