Il boom

Vittorio De Sica's name will forever be associated with neo-realism, however there are other films in his oeuvre that are worthy entries. "Il Boom" is De Sica's finest contribution to the "Commedia all'Italiana" films which dominated Italian cinema from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s. These comedies were often witty observations of daily life with all its compromises, hypocrisies and struggles.

"Il Boom" is one of the finest entries in the series and one of the blackest. Alberto Sordi plays a husband who is living beyond his means largely thanks to his high-spending wife and due to that need to "Keep up appearances", a vital part of Italian city life. Sordi's character is called on to make a great sacrifice to get out of debt. To reveal more would be to spoil the plot for other viewers.

Well worth hunting down. The great Cesare Zavattini wrote the script (say no more) and the master Vittorio De Sica directs. Fine effort!

By the time Vittorio de Sica made his final masterpiece of neo-realism, 'Umberto D', that particular genre had pretty well become a spent force and like many directors he was to turn his critical gaze on Italian society by means of Commedia all'Italiana and there are few films of this type that are as searing and as savage as this.

Written by his brilliant collaborator Cesare Zavattini and starring Alberto Sordi, this is a biting satire on Italy's so-called 'economic miracle' which in reality proved miraculous only for the few. The mordant wit is balanced by the pathos of the pitiable situation in which Sordi's spendthrift character finds himself. His high maintenace wife has taken their child and left and he is literally up to his eyeballs in debt. He is thrown a financial lifeline but one which requires a grotesque and scarcely believable trade off........

Although Signor Sordi considered his best role to be in Dino Risi's scathing critique 'La Vita Difficile', for this viewer at any rate his portrayal here under de Sica's direction is one of his greatest and one in which he displays his mastery of comic desperation. His facial reaction to the offer made by the formidable Signora Bausetti is unforgettable. She is played by Elena Nicolai, making her first film appearance since retiring as one of opera's greatest mezzo sopranos. Her performance is a veritable tour de force and one is hardly surprised to learn that her operatic reputation was sufficiently high as to have a peak in Antarctica named after her! Perfectly cast as Sordi's beautiful but vacuous spouse is Gianna Maria Canale although 'dubbed' as usual.

De Sica's pacing here is spot on whilst the film's farcical nature is underlined by Piero Piccione's jaunty score, not to mention a bizarre but nonetheless effective use of the jukebox hit 'Wheels'.

Although too close to home on its release to be well received, in today's world of rampant consumerism and crippling debt it remains alarmingly relevant.

The featured review on the main page is mixed up... Vittorio De Sica directed "Il Boom", not Dino Risi. I don't know how he got it confused, especially with De Sica's name right on "Directed By" at the top of the page.

Pretty good movie, 7/10... I guess I find humor in movies in all the "wrong" places.

After the end of neorealism cinema movement,it was Italian cinema's turn to give a different cinema genre to the world.It was called "Commedia All'Italiana", an Italian way of making comedy films.These films tackled Italian realities in a comical fashion.Among its leading proponents,one can cite names of directors such as Dino Risi,Ettore Scola,Mario Monicelli,Luigi Comencini and Nanni Loy.Taking cue from the widespread financial as well as industrial boom which Italy witnessed in 1960s,Dino Risi decided to direct a film called "Il Boom".His film is a brilliant comical attack on Italian upper middle families especially against their ludicrous tendencies to spend more than what they really earn.One sees them enjoying all the comforts which a life can offer them including a visit to a horse racing show and a gourmet food party.The film focuses its attention on Giovanni Alberto,a role played with perfect dexterity by great Italian actor Alberto Sordi,who sacrifices a lot including his family,friends and even a precious part of himself in order to get rid of his mounting debts.Apart from Italian middle classes,Dino Risi's 'Il Boom' is replete with a lot of easy to identify symbols which represent the Italian nation namely church and an ability to dance to excellent English music tracks helmed by Piero Piccioni.All music lovers would like to dance to the tunes of "Il Twist".

Sweet-sour comedy on Italy's 1950's rage to get rich as fast as possible !!The lead actor (Alberto Sordi) plays the part of a psuedo businessman who to satisfy his wife's craving for luxury and a "respectable life" becomes heavily indebted. In desperation he agrees to sell a precious part of his body for a large sum of money.But just before the crucial operation he panics !

The whole film is a grotesque comedy on Italy's obsession of those times to be "respectable" i.e. be rich,show it,and give the impression of being part of the respectable upper-middle class even though "secretly" you are just another of those "noveau riches". The film is very realistic and at times hilarious !Worth to see!