La terrasse

We follow five friends at the same party. A writer, a producer, a director, a politician and a journalist. There they meet new and old flames and quarrel a bit. All are experiencing an intellectual and emotional crisis.

I loved the many subtle symbols in this film. For instance, the young girlfriends; Sergio who is not eating; the crisis of being a leftist ('I'm much more left-wing than you!'); the success of women.

Even better is Scola's mockery with intellectualism. As you sometimes hear at parties people say: 'Mannerism is out of fashion', and you haven't got an clue what the purpose is of this comment. Every character here thinks himself as being witty, except the producer, and it is precisely him who produces a dramatic masterpiece that is praised by the intellectual elite.

Scola portrays disappointments beautifully - it is seen between the lines, as it was as well in Brutti, sporchi e cattivi. So, I highly appreciated this film, but you have to bear in mind it is a film of almost three hours. A perfect film for a rainy Sunday.

"During the dinner sequences, it is like operating an ensemble piece on a dime, DP. De Santis adroitly interposes long takes among various characters, discreetly listens to their conversations, or follows the kerfuffles, but there are no Altmanesque flourishes, which can concatenate all the fluid movements into a delectable visual orchestra. Here, Scala is more keen on building the signs of the times than showing off his sleight of hand, and juggling between studio and location shooting, LA TERRAZZA is an oddity that looks old school but attempts to say something au courant (the self-reflection of a society burdened with bureaucracy, commercialism and hypocrisy), therefore, it feels often luxuriate in the inner circles' own woes and melancholia. It is so cruel to see Mastroianni's Luigi the journalist, gets a cold shoulder from a young girl, the erstwhile Italian dreamboat now has been reduced to a gabby uncle figure that is so detached from the younger generation (a metaphor of Italian cinema's glorious days are on the ineluctable wane)."

keep reading my review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Boring???maybe for who doesn't know or understand the Italian situation of the early eighties, and that typical attitude of the left-side radical chic inhabitants of Rome.I do,and I appreciated this movie a Lot.Scola fails so rarely,and this wasn't the case.A great cast made a great movie,probably one of the last successful "Italian comedy" ever.Everything works fine,from the narrative stile of the director,which shows once again how well he can deal with a crowded set,to the script,written as always by himself.Gassman and Satta Flores above all.I wish this movie was more known abroad,24 years are past,but it never lost its taste,still actual and ironic as it should be

Claudia

Adorable, intelligent and politic driven movie. The best Italian director ever commands great actors and conducts the audience through a journey of passionate and bitter fellows who dare to fight for their beliefs.

In La Terrazza there are some amazing speeches - which I don't recall exactly - about every human being's right to happiness and love.

Maybe I liked it so much because I'm already a big fan of Ettore Scola. I also recommend his masterpieces "C'eravamo Tanto Amati" (the best Victorio Gassman performance) and "La Cena" (the last Gassman appearance).

Horrible sound, horrible photography, horrible screenplay, horrible acting. It seems to be directed with the left foot. Miles and miles away from the masterpieces 'C'eravamo tanto amati' or 'Una giornata particolare'.

Too much ambitious as well as superficial. It tries to represent the moral and political defeat of a generation, but the characters are two-dimensional.

Very uncertain in the choice of style: naturalistic or grotesque? It would have been better to go with the grotesque, because this kind of naturalism is very depressing. Scola used a bunch of actors who have always played anti-naturalistic characters in the glorious years of Italian cinema, so they are poorly utilized.

I'm sure this film will be forgotten over time.