| Il bidone | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Federico Fellini |
| Produced by | Mario Derecchi |
| Written by | Story and Screenplay: Federico Fellini Ennio Flaiano Tullio Pinelli |
| Starring | Broderick Crawford Richard Basehart Giulietta Masina |
| Music by | Nino Rota |
| Cinematography | Otello Martelli |
| Editing by | Mario Serandrei Giuseppe Vari |
| Distributed by | Titanus Distribuzione |
| Release date(s) | September 9, 1955 (Venice Film Festival) |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
Il bidone (English: The Swindle and The Swindlers) (1955) is an Italian film directed by Federico Fellini. It features Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, Giulietta Masina, among others.[1]
Released one year after the director's internationally successful La strada, Il bidone continues with many of the same socially conscious, neorealist-inspired themes while minimizing the poetic realism and extravagant vitality that is today is known as "felliniesque" in favor of a more pointed political stance.
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The film follows the exploits of a group of swindlers, focusing on their aging leader Augusto, as they go about their "business," reaping both rewards and consequences.
It is episodic, with scenes of various swindles (such as dressing up as clergy to cheat an old woman out of her money, or pretending to be government workers to pull a con amongst the poor and homeless) followed by scenes of the aftermath.
Film critic Bosley Crowther, gave the film a mixed review calling it "a cheap crime thriller." He added, "For this film, which is often mentioned in estimations of the master's works, is notable as a false step in his movement toward the development of a type of story material...But it contains some very strong Fellini phases and accumulations of moods that make it well worth seeing. And it is generally well played...Broderick Crawford's performance as the swindler is heavy and sodden, with a particular flair for postured histrionics in the swindle scenes."[2]
Nominations
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