The Teacher from Vigevano

1963 Italian film

Age & Scarpelli
Elio Petri

Produced byDino De LaurentiisCinematographyOtello MartelliEdited byRuggero MastroianniMusic byNino Rota

Production
company

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica

Distributed byDino De Laurentiis Distribuzione

Release date

24 December 1963 (1963-12-24) (Italy)^[1]

Running time

106 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalianBudget431 million lire^[1]

Il maestro di Vigevano, English title The Teacher from Vigevano, is a 1963 Italian comedy drama film directed by Elio Petri. It is based on the novel of the same name by Lucio Mastronardi.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Plot

Antonio Mombelli is a primary school teacher, married and father of a son. Although he is satisfied with his humble life and salary, his ambitious wife Ada pushes him to quit his job and open a small shoe factory with his severance pay. After his business' bankruptcy due to a tax investigation, Antonio takes a new exam to return to his teacher's job, but is devasteated to learn that Ada betrays him with local industrialist Bugatti.

Cast

Alberto Sordi as Antonio Mombelli
Claire Bloom as Ada Mombelli
Vito De Taranto as Pereghi, the director
Piero Mazzarella as Bugatti
Guido Spadea as Nanini
Eva Magni as Nanini's widow
Anna Carena as Drivaldi
Gustavo D'Arpe as Amiconi
Ya Doucheskaya as Eva
Lilla Ferrante as the director's daughter
Enzo Sancrotti as Carlo, Ada's brother
Ignazio Gibilisco as Maraldi
Bruno De Cerce as Cipollone
Adriano Tocchio as Lawyer Racalmuto
Tullio Scavazzi as Rino Mombelli
Egidio Casolari as Filippi
Aniello Coastabile as Zarzalli
Lorenzo Logli as wholesaler
Enzo Savone as Bugatti's son
Olivo Mondin as janitor
Gaetano Fusari as health insurance doctor
Carlo Montini
Nando Angelini
Umberto Rocco
Franco Moraldi
Franco Tuminelli
Joris Muzio

Reception

The critical reception of The Teacher from Vigevano was mixed.^[1] Gianni Rondolino acknowledged Petri's portrayal of the locale, but criticised the film for repeatedly giving in to "the needs of mass entertainment" and "broad and simple tastes".^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Curti, Roberto (2021). Elio Petri: Investigation of a Filmmaker. McFarland. ISBN 9781476680347.
^ ^a ^b "Il maestro di Vigevano". Cinematografo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 January 2024.
^ Lang, Simon (2023). Ästhetik und Politik im Werk des italienischen Filmregisseurs Elio Petri. edition text + kritik. ISBN 9783967078770.