Alberto Lattuada
Il cappotto

THE REVIEW

In 1952, Alberto Lattuada signed what is considered by many to be his masterpiece: Il cappotto.

Based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol and starring a more than surprising Renato Rascel, Il cappotto tells the story of Carmine De Carmine, a modest municipal employee.

Carmine is diligent and meticulous, yet he is a dreamy scatterbrain. Innocent and extremely shy, Carmine is constantly harassed by the general secretary, the mayor, as well as the rowdy and mocking colleagues.

Despite his efforts and goodwill, he never gets it right, everything goes wrong for him… even his coat, already tattered and shabby, is about to abandon him. If only he could have a new coat…

An extremely bitter comedy (one often laughs thoroughly), Il cappotto is a film simultaneously of rare delicacy and brutal harshness. In constant balance between fable and tragedy, the film once again tells of a cynical and ruthless Italy, far from a beautiful country, far from Italians being nice people. Oppressed and oppressors, in the words of Manzoni, move within their roles and there is no way to reverse these roles or even to smooth them out…

Carmine knows it well, he is truly an oppressed person… and yet, due to his inclination towards feelings of kindness and justice, despite his acute shyness and natural cowardice, he will try to ask for a bit of justice and humanity for himself and for others.

The film, supported by splendid cinematography, one of the strengths of director Lattuada, and masterfully interpreted by Rascel, received enthusiastic acclaim from both the public and critics from the start.

The performance of the extremely fierce mayor (Giulio Stival) is of absolute importance, and Giulio Calì is also unforgettable as the tailor who will make the new coat for our protagonist…

Renato Rascel, as we were saying. He had no credit, coming from the revue, the B-series of acting, and had mostly performed in insignificant films.

This character, so diminutive with those mouse-like mustaches (the idea for the mustache came from Lattuada himself, who preferred Rascel over Totò, the first choice, fearing that Totò, with his overwhelming presence, might overshadow the character of Carmine, so anonymous and modest).

Renato Rascel received lavish praise across Europe, they called him a new Charlot but with his own personality… and he won the Silver Ribbon for Best Actor.

I immediately thought of Charlot for his physical features and movements but also of Fantozzi, not so much because the two share clumsiness and being scorned by colleagues at work, but for the depiction of the work environment. The cruelty of those same colleagues, the total domination of superiors over him… and if in Fantozzi everything is exaggerated in a grotesque key, here the scenario is more realistic…

In the film, we hear Strauss's Bosco Viennese several times, and now when I hear this piece, I might think more of Carmine than of Battiato.

Goodbye Carmine, the coat the tailor made for you was truly magnificent, and how happy you were to wear it!

And to all the Carmine De Carmine's of the world, I send this musical dedication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPoqqkHo-R0