Policarpo

Rome, early 1900s. A modest civil servant has been hoping for years for a small pay raise, while his daughter is being courted by the son of the new, vain, and arrogant office manager. Meanwhile, the introduction of typewriters threatens to render his job obsolete. Adapted from a collection of short stories, this comedy is a bitter portrait of the pettiness of the bureaucratic world and the petty middle class, yet combined with a nostalgic gaze toward the Belle Époque that the director (one of the great Italian novelists of the 20th century) knew well. In the screenplay by Age & Scarpelli, masters of the genre (Big Deal on Madonna Street, The Great War), the greatest trust is placed in the young people, and especially in the female character. Various stars make brief cameo appearances, from Alberto Sordi to Vittorio De Sica to Ugo Tognazzi. 35mm print courtesy of Cinecittà.