The darkest work of the great Commedia all'Italiana genre - spanning more than two decades from the early Fifties of I Soliti Ignoti - C'Eravamo Tanti Amati also marks its epilogue.
This tale of three friends - Antonio (Nino Manfredi), Gianni (Vittorio Gassman) and Nicola (Stefano Satta Flores) - finding and losing each other in the years after World War II while falling in love with the same woman, Luciana (Stefania Sandrelli), has a caustic quality to it. Comedic moments flow from nuances in the great performances by the cast, but an accurate synopsis would be as gloomy as it gets, with betrayals, failures and a deep sense of loss spread over three decades of their lives.
Even the biggest laughs have a bitter aftertaste. For example, idealistic Gianni meets crass, amoral businessman Romolo (Aldo Fabrizi in a scene-stealing, magnificently loutish turn which would have gained an American thespian at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and ends up marrying his daughter. When years later an ancient, obese Romolo is carried around his garden by a crane as he proudly claims he refuses to die, it's both grotesquely amusing and unsettling. When a now rich Gianni awkwardly poses as a blue-collar in front of his newfound friends to hide how he threw away his integrity, it's funny and tragic: director Ettore Scola at his best.
8/10
This tale of three friends - Antonio (Nino Manfredi), Gianni (Vittorio Gassman) and Nicola (Stefano Satta Flores) - finding and losing each other in the years after World War II while falling in love with the same woman, Luciana (Stefania Sandrelli), has a caustic quality to it. Comedic moments flow from nuances in the great performances by the cast, but an accurate synopsis would be as gloomy as it gets, with betrayals, failures and a deep sense of loss spread over three decades of their lives.
Even the biggest laughs have a bitter aftertaste. For example, idealistic Gianni meets crass, amoral businessman Romolo (Aldo Fabrizi in a scene-stealing, magnificently loutish turn which would have gained an American thespian at least a nomination for Best Supporting Actor) and ends up marrying his daughter. When years later an ancient, obese Romolo is carried around his garden by a crane as he proudly claims he refuses to die, it's both grotesquely amusing and unsettling. When a now rich Gianni awkwardly poses as a blue-collar in front of his newfound friends to hide how he threw away his integrity, it's funny and tragic: director Ettore Scola at his best.
8/10