Il Posto - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Filmmaking At It's Best!
Review: Five brilliant stars for two brilliant performances by Sandro Panseri and the beautiful Loredana Detto and to Ermanno Olmi for a masterful job in creating this wonderful film. I've watched this film several times after recently purchasing the DVD and I am amazed at how a film such as this can be constructed to convey the full spectrum of emotions. Why would anyone ever need to make a film with "special effects" when the most amazing "special effect" ever created is the human face and Sandro Panseri as Domenico in this film is so convincing and brilliant. I was one with Domenico, experiencing each and every emotion. The scenes between Domenico(Sandro Panseri)and Antonietta (Loredana Detto)are very moving and special and the scenes between Domenico and his brother are priceless. The DVD extras are very interesting; the interview with Ermanno Olmi, the film restoration demonstration as well as the written material that accompanies the DVD. Working for a corporation and in an office environment for many years, I can relate to many aspects of this film. Plus it's filmed in beautiful black and white! The great thing about viewing the DVD is the ability to freeze a frame and focus on an image of an aspect of life as portrayed in this film. Grazie a Ermanno Olmi, Sandro Panseri e Loredana Detto. Complimenti! Che bravo! Grazie ancora!

Rating:
Summary: WELCOME TO REAL LIFE
Review: From 1961, IL POSTO (Criterion) is Ermanno Olmi's tender, witty, coming of age story. Domenico lives with his family on the farthest outskirts of Milan in the small village of Meda. Still a boyish teen, he commutes to Milan to get a job in a big, cold, bureaucratic company. Shy Domenico finds reason for hope in the fetching new worker Antonietta. But will Domenico realize that a life spent in this faceless company will totally dehumanize him? Director Olmi says the experiences of Domenico are in fact his own, that is, until he blossomed and became a filmmaker at the age of 33. This is a sharply observed and often very funny recollection of what it's like to suddenly step into harsh adulthood with a bit of your dreams and innocence still intact. Also newly available on DVD is Olmi's follow up to Il Posto, the equally charming I FIDANZI (Criterion) about two troubled Milanese fiances when the guy takes a job in Sicily. Olmi is a master at depicting the ordinary and humble among us and the strains on the heart when separation and discovery are experienced simultaneously. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: WELCOME TO REAL LIFE
Review: From 1961, IL POSTO (Criterion) is Ermanno Olmi's tender, witty, coming of age story. Domenico lives with his family on the farthest outskirts of Milan in the small village of Meda. Still a boyish teen, he commutes to Milan to get a job in a big, cold, bureaucratic company. Shy Domenico finds reason for hope in the fetching new worker Antonietta. But will Domenico realize that a life spent in this faceless company will totally dehumanize him? Director Olmi says the experiences of Domenico are in fact his own, that is, until he blossomed and became a filmmaker at the age of 33. This is a sharply observed and often very funny recollection of what it's like to suddenly step into harsh adulthood with a bit of your dreams and innocence still intact. Also newly available on DVD is Olmi's follow up to Il Posto, the equally charming I FIDANZI (Criterion) about two troubled Milanese fiances when the guy takes a job in Sicily. Olmi is a master at depicting the ordinary and humble among us and the strains on the heart when separation and discovery are experienced simultaneously. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent movies!
Review: I am italian and have watched the three Olmi's movies, Il Posto, I Fidanzati and The Tree of The Wooden Clogs, the latter is now out on DVD at amazon.co.uk. I absolutely loved every one of these movies, every one brought back memories of my times in Milan, and The Tree of The Wooden Clogs brings back vivid memories of when I was a toddler, going to visit my father's relatives in the country, and yes, they were wearing clogs with very thick socks, we children were having baths in the cow shed in the wooden bucket, the old fashion bed warmer, oh boy those bedrooms were sooooooo cold and oh! what a lovely treat to get into a warm bed! I grew into a teenager and was still going to visit the gradparents and watched the daily struggles just to live, pulling up the water from the well, working in the fields no matter what the wether was like, sitting on the tractor on the way home after a long day from working in the fields, preparing for the grape picking and the killing of the pig, granpa's wine and salamis were the best, waking up with the smell of the bacon, sitting under the porch with the women doing their daily tasks, sewing, pulling out the peas from their pods. At the end of a hard day, a good clean up and gather together after dinner by the fire with family and occasionally neighbours to see the day off. This movie is so real that I could smell it!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: If anything else, Olmi's film is about human grace. The movie follows the life of a young man who's looking for a job to supplement his family's income. There's a social undercurrent to the film, but Olmi's concern is far more humanistic. He's interested in the joys and disappointments of his characters. I found the sequence when the young man attempts to hook-up with the young woman both touching and awkward. More importantly, at one point in the movie, the camera follows the lives of the other people in the company to reveal their lives already lived and filled with everyday drama. Kudos for Criterion for releasing this film to a wider audience. It's beyond me why the movie's not widely known. It should be up there in the pantheon of the great Italian neo-realist films.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: If anything else, Olmi's film is about human grace. The movie follows the life of a young man who's looking for a job to supplement his family's income. There's a social undercurrent to the film, but Olmi's concern is far more humanistic. He's interested in the joys and disappointments of his characters. I found the sequence when the young man attempts to hook-up with the young woman both touching and awkward. More importantly, at one point in the movie, the camera follows the lives of the other people in the company to reveal their lives already lived and filled with everyday drama. Kudos for Criterion for releasing this film to a wider audience. It's beyond me why the movie's not widely known. It should be up there in the pantheon of the great Italian neo-realist films.

Rating:
Summary: This is really worth watching.
Review: In my opinion this is one of the greatest films ever made. I don't think I've seen a film that reflects the life so perfectly. This movie was more entertaining to me than anything Fellini ever did.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent movies!
Review: It is one of those films that after the film ends you still sit on for a few minutes finding your way back into this world again. The story is very simple, too simple i can describe it in less than 15 words. But I wouldn't want to spoil your experience. I just wanted to say that Olmi made his films during the '60s and 70s, Italian economic boom era when there were great economic and social disparities created between the haves and have-nots and materialism prevalent in Italy which was probably best depicted in La Dolce Vita. Olmi's films were reminders of booming Italy's difficult past being fogotten and humanity alongside it. In this film you will see that humanity, humanity not in words but on the faces and lives of people struggling to make it through. It's touching and entertaining. My only complaint was that why did it have to end so soon. I wanted to see more of the main characters.
If you like this film, I suggest you check out The Tree of Wooden Clogs. To me, it's Olmi at his best. That film led me to check out his other films like this one and I Fidanzati. Unfortunately The Tree hasn't been out on DVD yet. But once you start watching it on tape you will soon forget about digital imageries and its niceties.

Rating:
Summary: Wish it were longer
Review: It is one of those films that after the film ends you still sit on for a few minutes finding your way back into this world again. The story is very simple, too simple i can describe it in less than 15 words. But I wouldn't want to spoil your experience. I just wanted to say that Olmi made his films during the '60s and 70s, Italian economic boom era when there were great economic and social disparities created between the haves and have-nots and materialism prevalent in Italy which was probably best depicted in La Dolce Vita. Olmi's films were reminders of booming Italy's difficult past being fogotten and humanity alongside it. In this film you will see that humanity, humanity not in words but on the faces and lives of people struggling to make it through. It's touching and entertaining. My only complaint was that why did it have to end so soon. I wanted to see more of the main characters.
If you like this film, I suggest you check out The Tree of Wooden Clogs. To me, it's Olmi at his best. That film led me to check out his other films like this one and I Fidanzati. Unfortunately The Tree hasn't been out on DVD yet. But once you start watching it on tape you will soon forget about digital imageries and its niceties.

Rating:
Summary: Love and loneliness
Review: Note that also included on this DVD is a short film Olmi did for Italian television called La Cotta. It is surely one of the most charming morsels of cinema ever made, and alone would be worth the price of this disk.