After venturing into pedestrian comedy in his previous film, MACARONI, director Ettore Scola returned to the single set limitations of his LE BAL for this pleasant drama which covers 80 years in the life of one Italian family. The film opens in 1906 as the clan gathers in a large Rome
apartment for a group photograph. A narrator, Carlo (Vittorio Gassman), points himself out in the picture--an infant who has just been baptized. Carlo narrates the entire film as time passes, Scola never showing the characters outside of their apartment. In addition to Carlo, the family includes
his brother, his parents, the maid, his three matronly aunts, his wife, Beatrice (Stefania...
Released:
1987
Rated:
NR
Length:
127 mins