Il Cappotto
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''The Overcoat'' ( it, Il Cappotto) is a 1952 Italian fantasy-drama film directed by
Alberto Lattuada Alberto Lattuada (; 13 November 1914 – 3 July 2005) was an Italian film director. Career Lattuada was born in Vaprio d'Adda, the son of composer Felice Lattuada. He was initially interested in literature, becoming, while still a student, a mem ...
. It stars
Renato Rascel Renato Rascel (), stage name of Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 with the s ...
and is a modern-day version, set in Italy, of the same-named 1842 short tale by
Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
. The director's sister, Bianca Lattuada, was one of the production managers and his father,
Felice Lattuada Felice Lattuada (; 5 February 1882 – 2 November 1962) was an Italian composer. Lattuada was born at Caselle di Morimondo, near Milan. In his early adulthood he worked as a school teacher and was a self-taught amateur composer. That changed whe ...
, composed the music. It was shot at the
Farnesina Studios Farnesina may refer to: Architecture * Casa della Farnesina, an historic building of the ancient Rome, in the neighborhood of Trastevere, Rome * Palazzo della Farnesina, the headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the ...
of
Titanus Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lomb ...
in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
with sets designed by the
art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Gianni Polidori Gianni Polidori (1923–1992) was an Italian art director. He designed the sets for several films by Michelangelo Antonioni.Chatman p.266-67 Selected filmography * '' Bellissima'' (1951) * '' Honeymoon Deferred'' (1951) * ''The Overcoat'' (1952) ...
.
Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...
took place in
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
in
Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
.


Plot

The
Northern Italian Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
town of
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
in the 1930s. Carmine De Carmine, a clerk employed in the town hall, lives very modestly in rented room. He is devoted to his work, but is continually ignored or demeaned by the town's general secretary as well as by the mayor, an ambitious and corrupt politician, who has both a wife and a mistress. Carmine wears a shabby and threadbare coat which leaves him exposed to cold winter winds, but since he can barely pay the rent, a good winter coat is beyond his means. One day a beautiful and elegant woman, taking him for a beggar, gives him a considerable sum which Carmine brings to a tailor as a downpayment for an elegant coat with a fur collar. At work, Carmine is accidentally present at a compromising meeting during which businessmen promise a bribe to the general secretary who, to keep Carmine quiet, promises him a large productivity bonus. Meanwhile, the coat is finally ready and, as Carmine puts it on, he feels like a king and walks around the town as if he own the place, followed by the tailor who is proud of his own role in Carmine's transformation. On New Year's Eve wearing, as usual, his precious overcoat, he goes to the reception to which he had been invited by the secretary general. There, he sees the same beautiful lady who had given him the money and who, unknown to him, is the mayor's mistress. Tipsy from the numerous New Year's toasts, Carmine makes a speech expressing compassion for the impoverished masses, which is very coldly received by the other attendees. Finally, before leaving, he waltzes with the beautiful woman. After the party, as Carmine is walking home down a dark street, filled with the aspiration of finally being somebody, he is attacked and robbed of the coat. Desolate, he asks for help and sympathy from anyone who would listen, but they are all indifferent, including policemen, municipal officials and, above all, the mayor, who brusquely tells Carmine not to bother him with such trivialities. In a hopeless mindset, Carmine returns to wearing his tattered old coat, but soon suffers a nervous breakdown followed by pneumonia which ends his life. However, even after death, Carmine's hurt and humiliated spirit cannot rest. After the noisy passage of his funeral wagon disturbs a pompous public ceremony officiated by the mayor, Carmine's apparition roams the town streets, stripping pedestrians of their winter coats during cold and foggy winter evenings and frightening them with sound of his voice. He appears in the house of the mayor's beautiful mistress, while the mayor is there, violating their privacy and causing the mayor to experience a premonition of unease which comes to a realization when, on his way home through a dark street, he is confronted with the visible image of Carmine, floating a slight distance above the ground. Shocked, the mayor listens as Carmine recounts to him, from the beyond, the weight carried by the lack of empathy and humanity from him and others like him. As Carmine speaks, the mayor's dark hair turns white and he repents.Kehr, Dave. "Mantle of Dreams Yields a Nightmare" (''The New York Times'', January 13, 2012)
/ref>


Cast


Awards

Special
Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...
to Renato Rascel for the creation of the leading character. The film premiered at the
1952 Cannes Film Festival The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...
.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Overcoat, The 1952 films Films set in Italy 1950s fantasy drama films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian-language films Titanus films Films directed by Alberto Lattuada Films based on The Overcoat Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini Italian fantasy drama films 1950s Italian films