Anni Difficili is a very funny comedy about Fascism. The difficult years from 1934 to the end of WW2, are seen through the eyes of Aldo Piscitello, father of four and local government employee, played with a bewildered, hang-dog humanity by Umberto Spadaro. Piscitello has somehow failed to join the Fascist Party and if he wants to keep his job he's going to have to do something about that. The anti-logic of his corrupt superiors demands it. He's not keen, but his Leftist friends at the pharmacist can offer no useful advice, so reluctantly he joins up and unenthusiastically puts on the ridiculously saggy uniform and carries out his new duties as a member of the Fascist Party – mostly involving marching. So begins a series of moral compromises viewed against a background of escalating militarism and war.
Piscitello's son Giovanni (played by the awesomely chiselled Massimo Girotti) returns from military service to find his father in his new uniform. All Giovani wants to do is get out of uniform, marry the pharmacist's daughter and set up home, but he is soon called up for the invasion of Abyssinia and then goes from battlefront to battlefront for the remainder of these difficult years. As time goes by Piscitello sees that his moral compromises are keeping his son at war and away from his wife and child. Wouldn't it be better to protest against Fascism and go to prison if necessary he asks the Leftists at the pharmacy? But, they are hopelessly divided and fearful, and spend their time listening to Radio London and revelling in Italian military defeats. It's not easy to go against the grain however. The whole community gathers to cheer the speeches of Mussolini, Piscitello's wife is thankful the trains run on time, his daughter is enthusiastically teaching Fascist ideology in school, and the twin sons have joined a Fascist youth organisation.
To begin with all this is viewed with an amused irony by Zampa and his screenwriter, the novelist Brancati, but as the film proceeds, and Italy staggers from crisis to crisis, the humour becomes increasingly dark and bitter. Zampa and Brancati are determined that Italy faces up to its recent past. All society is culpable and is subjected to their withering comic gaze. Giovanni and his wife, Maria, remain curiously untainted by Fascism, albeit increasingly worn down and traumatised by war and separation. Girotti in particular is a taut and pale centre of gravity, his increasingly tragic presence a counter-point to the humour. There are no laughs at Giovanni and Maria's expense.
Anni Difficili was released in 1948 and must have been uncomfortable viewing for audiences of the time. It's a powerful film today, a perfectly judged mix of fun, satirical ire and loss.
Piscitello's son Giovanni (played by the awesomely chiselled Massimo Girotti) returns from military service to find his father in his new uniform. All Giovani wants to do is get out of uniform, marry the pharmacist's daughter and set up home, but he is soon called up for the invasion of Abyssinia and then goes from battlefront to battlefront for the remainder of these difficult years. As time goes by Piscitello sees that his moral compromises are keeping his son at war and away from his wife and child. Wouldn't it be better to protest against Fascism and go to prison if necessary he asks the Leftists at the pharmacy? But, they are hopelessly divided and fearful, and spend their time listening to Radio London and revelling in Italian military defeats. It's not easy to go against the grain however. The whole community gathers to cheer the speeches of Mussolini, Piscitello's wife is thankful the trains run on time, his daughter is enthusiastically teaching Fascist ideology in school, and the twin sons have joined a Fascist youth organisation.
To begin with all this is viewed with an amused irony by Zampa and his screenwriter, the novelist Brancati, but as the film proceeds, and Italy staggers from crisis to crisis, the humour becomes increasingly dark and bitter. Zampa and Brancati are determined that Italy faces up to its recent past. All society is culpable and is subjected to their withering comic gaze. Giovanni and his wife, Maria, remain curiously untainted by Fascism, albeit increasingly worn down and traumatised by war and separation. Girotti in particular is a taut and pale centre of gravity, his increasingly tragic presence a counter-point to the humour. There are no laughs at Giovanni and Maria's expense.
Anni Difficili was released in 1948 and must have been uncomfortable viewing for audiences of the time. It's a powerful film today, a perfectly judged mix of fun, satirical ire and loss.