''His Days Are Numbered'' (), also titled ''Numbered Days'', is a 1962 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Elio Petri Eraclio Petri (29 January 1929 – 10 November 1982), commonly known as Elio Petri, was an Italian film and theatre director, screenwriter and film critic. The Museum of Modern Art described him as "one of the preeminent political and social ...

Plot

While riding on a tram, Cesare, a 53-year-old plumber and widower, witnesses a passenger's sudden death from a heart attack. He realises his own mortality and decides to stop working, instead trying to make as much of his remaining time as possible. In a loosely connected series of scenes, he visits places he hasn't been to before like an airport or an art exhibition, goes to see his former girlfriend Giulia and other workers at their job, or watches residents of a housing area protesting intolerable sanitary conditions. One by one, Cesare's attempts to pursuit his youth end in disappointment: Giulia walks out on him during a date, in his hometown the people he knew have mostly left or died, and the landlady's daughter carelessly wastes the money which he lent her for a new job and dates a wealthy man. Running out of money, he teams up with a gang of crooks to have his arm broken to collect insurance money, but backs out at the last minute. Eventually, he returns to his job. In the last scene, a tram driver tries to wake Cesare up who dozed off during the ride.

Cast

Production

''His Days Are Numbered'' had been conceived by Petri before his debut film '' The Assassin'' (1961), but considered not commercial enough by the producers. The success of ''The Assassin'' both with the audience and critics eventually enabled the financing of ''His Days Are Numbered''.

Release

''His Days Are Numbered'' premiered on 25 March 1962 at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

Reception

While initially not a success, film historians and institutions have acknowledged the importance of ''His Days Are Numbered'' in later years, seeing influences of neorealism and the French

nouvelle vague The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of i ...

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such a ...

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...

and early

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

in particular, and drawing comparisons to

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

's '' Umberto D.'',

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

's '' Wild Strawberries'' and

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

's ''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese tragedy film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest ...

''.

Awards

* 1962

Nastro d'Argento The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...

for Best Original Story * 1962

Astor de Oro for Best Film

Legacy

''His Days Are Numbered'' was shown in a restored version, carried out by the

Museo Nazionale del Cinema The National Museum of Cinema () located in Turin, Italy, is a motion picture museum fitted out inside the Mole Antonelliana tower. It is operated by the ''Maria Adriana Prolo Foundation'', and the core of its collection is the result of the work ...

in collaboration with the

Cineteca di Bologna The Cineteca di Bologna is a film archive in Bologna, Italy. It was founded on 18 May 1962. Since 1989, it has been a member of the Fédération internationale des archives du film (FIAF). It has been a member of the Association des ciném ...

Foundation, at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in 2012.

References

External links

*
''His Days Are Numbered'' at Titanus.it
{{Elio Petri 1962 films Italian drama films 1962 drama films Films directed by Elio Petri Films with screenplays by Tonino Guerra Films set in Rome Titanus films 1960s Italian films