Gentle, tender, beautiful

Margarete 2022-02-25 08:02:03

A humanist masterpiece. The film is certainly against the dehumanizing aspects of corporate life, but one hesitates to call it a "protest" movie, like some of Chaplin's repertoire. There is no expressed anger, but what I see as a reasonable, controlled indignation , made poignant by sympathy and sensibility.

Olmi's films never disappoint. His technical background gives him fine eyes for the subtlety of light and shadow in black/white cinematography. His two best-known works, "Il Posto" and "Il Fidanzati", are the epitomes of B/W accomplishment.

There is a sweet, quiet lyricism in Olmi that you don't find in other Italian Greats, not even in de Sica. Maybe that is why, when the film ends, we are left to care and worry about the heroes and heroines, far beyond their existence in the plot. For instance, I keep thinking of the boy clerk, of what kind of man he'll grow up as, and wondering what kind of a bride he'll eventually take. No other director has this power to make the cast feel like family to the audience. But isn't that the magic of the film?

View more about Il Posto reviews

Extended Reading
  • Jany 2022-03-15 09:01:10

    The new realism of survival. The mechanical life oppresses the individual, yet we live by it, and perhaps the whole fear of life lies in this feeling of dependence which hides hopelessness. Dominic's scenes of waiting for a girl several times touched people's hearts. They didn't meet, and they didn't change at all. In the end, they were still ranked in the last row of reality. Love can't be redemption. The film is smooth and clean, with the simplicity of standard neo-realism, and the young and frightened face of the male protagonist is impressive.

  • Carolyn 2022-04-24 07:01:24

    A masterpiece of neorealism, the ability to capture life is too strong and accurate, and it is completely empathetic. The inconvenience of first entering the society is all in the flickering eyes of the male protagonist. At the beginning of the second half, the irony crescendos, the reality is ridiculous, and the love ends without a hitch.

Il Posto quotes

  • Job Interviewer: Do you mind eating away from home?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Does the future seem hopeless to you?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Do you suffer from frequent itching?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Did you wet the bed between the ages of 8 and 14?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Has excessive drunkenness ever caused you to lose your job?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Does the opposite sex repulse you?

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

    Job Interviewer: Do you often drink to forget your troubles?

    Domenico Cantoni: Sometimes.

    Job Interviewer: Not sometimes. Yes or no.

    Domenico Cantoni: No.

  • Sartori: Your best bet is to keep to yourself. In this life, we should trust everyone, except those who have two nostrils.