''The Joy of Living'' ( it, Che gioia vivere, french: Quelle joie de vivre) is a 1961 Italian-French
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
René Clément
René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Clément studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1936, he directed hi ...
. It was entered into the
1961 Cannes Film Festival
The 14th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 18 May 1961. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Une aussi longue absence'', directed by Henri Colpi and ''Viridiana'', directed by Luis Buñuel. The festival opened with ''Che gioia vivere'', directed by ...
.
Plot
The story is set in Rome, in the year 1921. Ulisse (
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
) enrolls in the Italian Fascist party because he cannot find any employment. The first task entrusted to him by the party leads Ulysses to the printer Fossati, where he's hired as an apprentice. This brings him into contact with a family of anarchists, who will turn him into a reluctant hero for love of the beautiful Franca (
Barbara Lass). However, at a time when he must make a decisive choice, Ulysses obeys neither the anarchists nor the fascists, and risks his life for a different idea of freedom.
Cast
*
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
as Ulisse Cecconato
*
Barbara Lass as Franca Fossati
*
Gino Cervi
Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules M ...
as Olinto Fossati
*
Rina Morelli
Rina Morelli (6 December 1908 – 17 July 1976) was an Italian film and stage actress. She appeared in 34 films between 1939 and 1976. She was born in Naples, Italy and died in Rome, Italy. Her husband, Paolo Stoppa, was an Italian stage and ...
as Rosa Fossati
*
Carlo Pisacane
Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni (22 August 1818 – 2 July 1857) was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He argued that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or generate publicity for, a c ...
as Grandfather "Fossati"
*
Paolo Stoppa
Paolo Stoppa Knight Grand Cross (6 June 1906 – 1 May 1988) was an Italian actor.
Biography
Born in Rome, he began as a stage actor in 1927 in the theater in Rome and began acting in films in 1932. As a stage actor, his most celebrated ...
as Hairdresser
*
Giampiero Littera
Giampiero Littera (born 25 June 1938) is an Italian former film actor.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Littera, while still a teenager, made his film debut in Luciano Emmer's ''High School''. Four years later, after completing his high school stud ...
as Turiddu
*
Didi Perego
Didi Perego (13 April 1935 – 28 June 1993) was a statuesque Italian actress who appeared in more than 80 films and television shows. She made her film debut in 1959's ''Death of a Friend''. The same year, she starred in perhaps her best-known ...
as Isabella
*
Nanda Primavera
Nanda Primavera (23 August 1898 – 9 August 1995) was an Italian actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1936 to 1988.
Filmography
References
External links
*
1898 births
1995 deaths
Italian film actresses
{{Ita ...
*
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 Anarchist
*
Aroldo Tieri
Aroldo Tieri (28 August 1917 – 28 December 2006) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1939 and 1969.
Life and career
Born in Corigliano Calabro, son of the journalist and playwright Vincenzo Tieri, Aroldo Tieri ...
*
Leopoldo Trieste
Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer.
Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He worked with directors such as Pietro Germi, Francis Ford Coppola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
*
1961 films
Commedia all'italiana
1960s Italian-language films
1961 comedy films
French black-and-white films
Films directed by René Clément
Films set in Rome
Films set in the 1920s
Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost
1960s French films
1960s Italian films
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