I know that I am in the minority here but, as Mr. Mark Twain wrote, difference of opinion is why we have horse races.
I found this entire film tedious and probably outdated even at the time of its release, but time has not done it any favors.
Of course the film has nothing in common with Fellini's later surrealism, such as 8 1/2. But compare this film to Fellini's earlier films, such as I Vitelloni or especially La Dolce Vita. It's supposed to be a powerful expose of a modern Italian culture yet most of what happens in the film would have bored college kids even in the 1940s or '50s, much less when the film was released.
Presumably speed racing, drinking, defying social norms, and (unbelievably) a silly scene of people doing the twist, is supposed to be "shocking" in 1962? There are traces of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," but that novel was prophetic, as were the James Dean and early Brando films. Keep in mind, that this is several years AFTER the sexually controversial plays of Tennessee Williams. Those were truly subversive characters. The transgressive character played by Vittorio Gassman seems nothing but a tedious frat boy in comparison. Halfway through the film I lost interest.
The film belongs to the genre named after the masterpiece, "Divorce Italian Style," which truly delivers on its satirical premise. This film doesn't I have no idea why the film is considered a masterpiece in the genre, nor why Gassman is considered a great actor, at least not on the basis of this film alone. The film, in my view, is saved by Jean-Louis Trintignant expressively modeled and low-key performance, the real acting in the film.
Also puzzling is the lack of a great movie underscore. If any film needed a main theme repeated throughout, especially in the road sequences, this one is it. Yet for entire stretches on the road there is no underscore.
Compare this film with another genre film, just two years before, called *Pillow Talk*. There is nothing dated in that film. It comes across as funny and "recognizable," despite all the sexual revolution since, as it did in 1960. But everything seems dated in Il Sorpasso. On the other hand I can view Divorce Italian Style without any loss of excitement that I felt viewing it for the first time. Another contrast with the two films is the two underscores. The score for Divorce Italian Style, by Carlo Rustichelli, is one of the greatest Italian film scores ever written. The score for this film sounds more like a pastiche.
I found this entire film tedious and probably outdated even at the time of its release, but time has not done it any favors.
Of course the film has nothing in common with Fellini's later surrealism, such as 8 1/2. But compare this film to Fellini's earlier films, such as I Vitelloni or especially La Dolce Vita. It's supposed to be a powerful expose of a modern Italian culture yet most of what happens in the film would have bored college kids even in the 1940s or '50s, much less when the film was released.
Presumably speed racing, drinking, defying social norms, and (unbelievably) a silly scene of people doing the twist, is supposed to be "shocking" in 1962? There are traces of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," but that novel was prophetic, as were the James Dean and early Brando films. Keep in mind, that this is several years AFTER the sexually controversial plays of Tennessee Williams. Those were truly subversive characters. The transgressive character played by Vittorio Gassman seems nothing but a tedious frat boy in comparison. Halfway through the film I lost interest.
The film belongs to the genre named after the masterpiece, "Divorce Italian Style," which truly delivers on its satirical premise. This film doesn't I have no idea why the film is considered a masterpiece in the genre, nor why Gassman is considered a great actor, at least not on the basis of this film alone. The film, in my view, is saved by Jean-Louis Trintignant expressively modeled and low-key performance, the real acting in the film.
Also puzzling is the lack of a great movie underscore. If any film needed a main theme repeated throughout, especially in the road sequences, this one is it. Yet for entire stretches on the road there is no underscore.
Compare this film with another genre film, just two years before, called *Pillow Talk*. There is nothing dated in that film. It comes across as funny and "recognizable," despite all the sexual revolution since, as it did in 1960. But everything seems dated in Il Sorpasso. On the other hand I can view Divorce Italian Style without any loss of excitement that I felt viewing it for the first time. Another contrast with the two films is the two underscores. The score for Divorce Italian Style, by Carlo Rustichelli, is one of the greatest Italian film scores ever written. The score for this film sounds more like a pastiche.