''The Reunion'' ( it, La rimpatriata) is a 1963 Italian film directed by

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereg ...

. It was entered into the

13th Berlin International Film Festival The 13th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 21 June to 2 July 1963. The Golden Bear was awarded ''ex aequo'' to the Italian film '' Il diavolo'' directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro and Japanese film '' Bushidô zankoku monogata ...

. The film is about a group of old friends in Milan, all men in their late thirties, celebrating a chance reunion at a cinema in the suburbs (managed by one of them), and looking for encounters with women.

Plot

Alberto and Sandrino, two old friends, meet by chance on the streets of Milan after many years. After a moment of embarrassment, memories and the light-heartedness of the past resurface. Sandrino offers to track down the others - Cesarino, Nino and Livio - and spend an evening like in the good old days. Cesarino, who back in the old days was the animator of the group who got them into contact with girls, has not lost much in this sense although he faces economic difficulties. He manages a small cinema in the suburbs for his uncle, where the other friends go after having dinner. The evening passes between telephone calls of a pranky nature, car rides, and meetings of bizarre character. In the early morning, Cesarino decides to track down Lara, who had spent time with the group. As the friends now find out, she had gotten arrested for a diamond robbery which she committed shortly after leaving the group, spent two years in jail, and now has become a

street prostitute Street prostitution is a form of sex work in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, e ...

. Cesarino reaffirms her love for her, but when she sees the other friends watching them kiss, she runs away and joins her regular customers, the

trucker A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

s. In wanting to redeem her, Cesarino runs after the truck and jumps on it. A fistfight with two truckers ensues, and Cesarino ends up beaten up and bleeding. Lara, saddened by this, still stays with the truckers, and Cesarino is taken care of by his friends. He finally leaves the group in a sad mood. Alberto promises he will ring him up, but although Cesarino appreciates the gesture, it feels as though he suspects he never will do so.

Cast

Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...

as Cesarino *

Letícia Román Letícia Román (''née'' Novarese; born 12 August 1941) is an Italian film actress. Early years Román was born Letizia Novarese in Rome in 1941. She was the daughter of stage actress Giuliana Gianni and screenwriter/costume designer Nino Nova ...

as Carla *

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...

as Alberto * Riccardo Garrone as Sandrino *

Dominique Boschero Dominique Boschero (born 27 April 1937) is a French-Italian actress. Life and career Born in Paris by Italian parents, Boschero spent her childhood in Frassino, Italy with her grandparents until the age of 15, when she returned to Paris.Mauri ...

as Tina (la triste) *

Mino Guerrini Mino Guerrini (16 December 1927 – 10 January 1990) was an Italian director, screenwriter, journalist, actor and painter. Biography Born in Rome as Giacomo Guerrini, Guerrini entered the cinema industry in 1954 as screenwriter in Marcello Pagli ...

as Nino *

Paul Guers Paul Guers (19 December 1927 – 27 November 2016) was a French film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1955 and 1996. He starred in the 1963 film '' Kali Yug: Goddess of Vengeance''. He was born in Tours, France and died in Montsoreau. ...

as Livio *

Gastone Moschin Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Career Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began ...

as Toro *

Jacqueline Pierreux Jacqueline Pierreux (15 January 1923 – 10 March 2005) was a French film and television actress.Philip Mosley p.105 From the early 1970s onwards she also enjoyed success as a producer. She was the wife of screenwriter Pierre Léaud and the mothe ...

as Lara (il Larone) * Mimma Di Terlizzi as Maria

Critical reception

According to Giuseppe Previti, the film's narration is "insightful and full of melancholy, enriched by a perfect performance by

, and at ease in representing the losers of the ''boom'' era" ( it, acuta e piena di malinconia, impreziosita anche della interpretazione perfetta di Walter Chiari, a suo agio nel rappresentare gli sconfitti dell'era del boom).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reunion, The 1963 films 1960s Italian-language films Films set in Milan Italian black-and-white films Films directed by Damiano Damiani