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Rating: Launched by Fellini in "Amarcord" as a grotesque mask rather than an actor, and protagonist of a few raunchy comedies throughout the '70s, always in the role of the lustful sidekick of various Banfi and Montagnani, Alvaro Vitali is one of the most reviled protagonists of Italian cinema in the last thirty years, often held up as the very symbol of "non-cinema", as an epitome of the decadence of what was once a noble art.
The bad reputation that already accompanied him at the time of his first successes was decisively confirmed in the early '80s, when he starred in a series of films related to the so-called "Pierino cycle," in which Vitali - heedless of his less-than-youthful age - took on the character of a multiple-repeating troublemaker, engaged in obscene gags set at school and home.
The films followed the same pattern typical of serials, forming a collage not always sensible of trite and banal jokes - like little skits - alternating with more salacious episodes where Pierino targeted the charms of the current young substitute teacher, usually a fake innocent who never surrendered to her student (and it's no wonder). Irritating were these films, and even more irritating was Vitali's laughter, accompanying Pierino's various exploits, more similar to that of a hyena than to a human being.
The reader might wonder why devote all these words to a negligible phenomenon of our (non) cinema, perhaps not without reason.
I believe, however, that the premises are necessary to grasp what is salvageable from the otherwise removable career of Vitali, identified by me in this film from 1982, drawn from the beautiful pages of Vamba's comedic masterpiece, the well-known "Gianburrasca."
The film constitutes, in certain respects, a variation on the theme of the numerous Pierino films, but the fact that this time it is performed on a literary framework, although adapted to the needs of the script and audience, makes this work more structured, better acted, and at times, much more entertaining than the average of films starring the Roman actor.
The story, set in the early 1900s, tells of a scion of a bourgeois family, Giannino Stoppani, an irrepressible troublemaker, who is sent by his family to a boarding school in the desperate hope that the strict discipline of the teachers will improve his integration into society. In vain.
I was saying that the film is at times very entertaining: thanks to some excellent supporting actors, such as the great Mario Carotenuto, Marisa Merlini, Gigi Reder, as well as the pair of schoolmasters splendidly played by Clara Colosimo and Enzo Robutti, in the role of Calpurnius, the "Beast" (for the reader to understand what Latinate term this refers to), not to mention Vitali who, for once, does not overly indulge in excessive protagonism.
It is thought-provoking that many of the actors involved in this film were pillars of the true Italian comedy of the '50s and '60s, almost tracing a continuity with that era, raising not a few doubts about the reasons that led to the decline of our cinema in the subsequent decades.
Worth remembering in this film is not only the scene with firecrackers at his sister's wedding, but all the long sequences set in the boarding school, from the trap set for Calpurnius who falls into a manure pit, the meal served to the directors of the institute, to the long scene with the medium, with almost slapstick accents. The whole thing has a faint coprophilic flavor (given the recurring presence of excrement in the gags), confirming those who say these films are a bit the dregs of our cinema.
As those who read my reviews now know, I always try to maintain a detached position regarding the films I review, and this case is no exception: the film, directed by Pingitore (who later moved steadily to television with the poor comedy of Bagaglino), is barely passable when evaluated based on a tendentially objective scale, while, in my opinion, it appears even good when compared to other films of the era, and excellent when evaluated in relation to Vitali's career.
What to say, then? 2/5 by Debaser standards, 4/5 for genre lovers, 5/5 for Vitali enthusiasts.
Yours sincerely, Il_Paolo
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