''My Friends'' ( it, Amici miei) is a 1975
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the ''Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was awa ...
.
New York Times
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The film project belonged to Pietro Germi, who had no chance to make it happen because of his untimely death. The opening credits of the film, in fact, paid tribute to the author with the words "a film by Pietro Germi" which is followed only later by "directed by Mario Monicelli".
The film, which made it to number one on the Italian box-office in front of Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
's ''Jaws
Jaws or Jaw may refer to:
Anatomy
* Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth
** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'', was followed by two sequels, ''Amici miei Atto II
''All My Friends Part 2'' ( it, Amici miei Atto II) is a 1982 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It is the sequel to '' Amici miei'' of 1975. The movie features Paolo Stoppa in one of his last roles. The last chapter of this saga ...
'' (1982, also by Monicelli), ''Amici miei Atto III
Amici may refer to:
* '' Amicus curiae'', a legal Latin phrase translated to "friend of the court"
* ''Amici Principis'', another term for ''cohors amicorum'', "cohort of friends"
* Amici (crater), on the Moon
* Amici Forever, a band
* Amici pri ...
'' (1985), directed by Nanni Loy
Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solinas.
Biography
Lo ...
.
Plot
Like in many other Monicelli movies, the main theme of ''Amici miei'' is friendship, seen from a rather bitter point of view. It tells the story of four middle-aged friends in Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
who organize together idle pranks (called ''zingarate'', "gypsy shenanigans") in a continuous attempt to prolong childhood during their adult life.
Count Mascetti (Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
) is an impoverished noble who has no means to support his family, but does not renounce high living pleasures anyway, and has an underage mistress, Titti ( Silvia Dionisio). Perozzi (Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor.
Life and career
Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...
) is an easy-living journalist harassed by the unceasing disapproval of his wife and his son. Melandri (Gastone Moschin
Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor.
Career
Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began hi ...
) is an architect employed by City Hall (for the preservation and restoration of the City's countless monuments), whose main goal is to find the ideal woman. Necchi (Duilio Del Prete
Duilio Del Prete (25 June 1938 – 2 February 1998) was an Italian actor, dubber and singer-songwriter.
Del Prete was born at Cuneo, Piedmont. As a singer-songwriter, he wrote political songs and recorded an album of Jacques Brel's covers; he a ...
) is the owner of a café and pool hall where the friends usually plan their ''zingarate''.
During the movie, they are joined by a renowned, military-like surgeon, professor Alfeo Sassaroli (Adolfo Celi
Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...
), in whose clinic they recover after being hospitalized, injured after a mismanaged ''zingarata''. Melandri falls in love with Sassaroli's wife, exclaiming "I've seen the Madonna!", only to discover she has psychological problems.
The plot is mostly composed of elaborate practical jokes organized by the friends, including the creation of a fake mafia mob (actually, from Marseille) in whose "criminal acts" they involve a pensioner, Righi (Bernard Blier
Bernard Blier (11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor.
He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time.
Life and career
His rotund features an ...
), who used to snatch croissants from the cake tray in Necchi's café, and Mascetti's attempts to save his marriage despite his relationship with Titti.
The film ends with Perozzi's death, which still does not deprive his friends of their desecrating hijinks, not even in face of their own mortality. Instead, Perozzi's wife is skeptical at first, since she wonders if his death can actually be one of his pranks. Criticized by Melandri for her lack of tears, she comments: "One mourns if somebody dies. But here, nobody died". Mascetti replies: "Well, he wasn't somebody, but I liked him".
During the funeral procession, they "pay homage" to their dead friend by telling the wide-eyed Righi that Perozzi was killed for being a traitor to their mafia. Melandri starts sobbing out of laughter, because Righi believed the hoax, while the other friends also break up. Righi, believing that they are heartbroken, is moved for real.
Cast
* Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
as Lello Mascetti
* Gastone Moschin
Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor.
Career
Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began hi ...
as Rambaldo Melandri
* Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor.
Life and career
Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...
as Giorgio Perozzi
* Duilio Del Prete
Duilio Del Prete (25 June 1938 – 2 February 1998) was an Italian actor, dubber and singer-songwriter.
Del Prete was born at Cuneo, Piedmont. As a singer-songwriter, he wrote political songs and recorded an album of Jacques Brel's covers; he a ...
as Guido Necchi
* Olga Karlatos
Olga Karlatos ( el, Όλγα Καρλάτου; born Olga Vlassopulos, April 20, 1945) is a retired Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer, known primarily for performing in Italian horror cinema.
Career
Between the end of the sixties and the e ...
as Donatella Sassaroli
* Silvia Dionisio as Titti
* Franca Tamantini
Franca Tamantini (24 August 1931 – 11 August 2014) was an Italian film, television and stage actress.
Life and career
Born in Rome, since young age Tamantini studied piano, singing and classical dance at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. In 19 ...
as Carmen Necchi
* Angela Goodwin
Angela Goodwin (born Angela Bucci, 1 August 1925 – 25 March 2016), was an Italian stage, film and television actress.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Goodwin was the daughter of an Italian-American father, and spent her youth in the US where s ...
as Laura Perozzi
* Milena Vukotic as Alice Mascetti
* Bernard Blier
Bernard Blier (11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor.
He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time.
Life and career
His rotund features an ...
as Niccolò Righi
* Adolfo Celi
Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...
as Professor Alfeo Sassaroli
* Maurizio Scattorin
Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''.
List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music
* Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945 ...
as Luciano Perozzi (Perozzi's son)
Other
* The project was begun by Pietro Germi, who could not finish it due to his death. Monicelli, who replaced him, moved the set from Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
to Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, as the filmmaker was raised in Tuscany (many of the ''zingarate'' illustrated in the movie were actually inspired by tricks and pranks played by Monicelli himself during his youth).
* In the original version Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor.
Life and career
Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student and ...
is dubbed by Renzo Montagnani
Renzo Montagnani (September 11, 1930 – May 22, 1997) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Montagnani was born in Alessandria, Piedmont, and debuted as theatre actor thanks to the help of Erminio Macario. His first cinema succe ...
, who, in the sequels, replaced Del Prete as Necchi.
* One of the most popular scenes is that in which the four friends, to raise Melandri's mood after his falling out with Sassaroli's ex-wife, organize a ''zingarata'' consisting of slapping people's faces stretching out from the windows of a leaving train. One of the victims is Perozzi's son.
* The film was shot in Florence and its center was a real bar in Piazza Demidoff, along the River Arno, which was named "Bar Amici Miei" and featured posters of the film. In the 1990s the bar changed its name and was modernized becoming an American bar and losing all connections to the film.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:My Friends
1975 films
1970s Italian-language films
1975 comedy-drama films
Commedia all'italiana
Films directed by Mario Monicelli
Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli
Films set in Florence
1975 comedy films
1975 drama films
Midlife crisis films
1970s Italian films