I compagni

Mario Monicelli's wonderfully full portrait of an early workers' strike at a Turino textile factory (circa 1890) is not only a great period drama, but a warm, if ultimately tragic human comedy in the great Italian tradition. Great performances all around (Mastroianni, Giradot, and a young River Phoenix look-a-like named Franco Ciolli, whatever became of him?) help make this labor drama the movie MATEWAN, MOLLY MAGUIRES and GERMINAL all tried to be.

There have been many movies about union organization over the years, and "The Organizer" is one of the best I've seen.

Marcello Mastroianni plays a teacher with a mysterious past who shows up in an Italian village and encourages the working folk to organize. As always in stories like this, there are those who are suspicious and those who are on his side. The film is spare and naturalistic in setting and tone, and it packs one gut punch of an ending.

"The Organizer" brought writers Age, Scarpelli, and Mario Monicelli (who also directed) an Oscar nomination for Best Original Story and Screenplay at the 1964 Academy Awards.

Grade: A

The difference between this film and a lot of other strike/union related films, is that it has a sense of humor and is not taken with its own self importance. As a matter a fact, the film is quite measured and cautious in its outlook. There are no heroics here, everybody is a full fledged human being with his/her weaknesses and strengths. Mastroianni is particularly wonderful here in a very nuanced performance, where he goes from nebbish professor to inspirational and powerful leader in matters of seconds. The script is very strong and Rotunno's cinematography is excellent. Monicelli injects the film with so many details that hit their mark, that he has gone from a very good director to a great one in my estimation. The early scenes at the factory are truly remarkable in a uniquely cinematic way. They hardly contain any dialogue and put you in the workers place in a remarkably efficient way.

Highly recommended.

Today, as one "great" corporation after another collapses under the weight of its own deceit, I Compagni should be seen by everyone. For at least 20 years, we have been told that unions and regulations are obsolete hindrances to the miracle of The Marketplace. Now that even Alan Greenspan, an enormously powerful acolyte of Ayn Rand and her adolescent mirror-philosophy to Marxism, has testified that "I was wrong." As he admitted that he now sees that unregulated capitalism will inevitably fall under the spell of selfish, unfeeling greed, we find ourselves almost back at the beginning of FDR's reforms. The "American Dream" didn't just happen; it wasn't automatically granted by benevolent businessmen. It was fought for, and won despite enormous obstacles. It is true that the final scene of this film is heartbreaking. But it should not be seen as depressing. A battle has been lost. But the war was eventually won. Many of those gains have been recently tossed aside out of historical ignorance and childish acceptance of corporate propaganda. But if the American people will act and vote intelligently, workers and capitalists alike will regain a humane balance.

I Compagni is memorable. When we consider why films move us, affect our lives, indeed, create us to some extent, we think of films such as this. This is not just an artistic triumph for all its filmmakers, but also a moving document of humanity. We take measure of Mastroianni not by his range of performance but by his deep involvement. Like France's Charles Aznavour has his heart in his song, Marcello Mastroianni is fully engaged in his performance. As Professor Sinigaglia in I Compagni, Mastroianni is at his best form. The source of his intensity is not his surface emotion, but the depths of his soul.