L'Arte di arrangiarsi (1954)
Directed by Luigi Zampa

Film Review

L'Arte di arrangiarsi (a.k.a. The Art of Getting Along) is one of a series of light satirical comedies directed by Luigi Zampa in the 1950s which delights in poking fun at Italian society through the prism of its turbulent recent history.  Zampa may not have been the most effective of satirists - his films lack the bitter mordancy of other Italian film directors such as Dino Risi, Pietro Germi and the great Fellini - but his films were popular and often outrageously funny.  L'Arte di arrangiarsi is one of Zampa's most ambitious films, as it takes in half a century of Italian history in its gentle mockery of the shameless opportunism that a stratum of Italian society indulged in, changing political affiliations as easily as the wind changes direction.  Zampa's reluctance to overstep the mark and cause offence robs the film of real impact and makes it a somewhat anaemic piece, although a robust lead performance from Alberto Sordi and some amusing set-pieces (such as the scene in which the hero attempts to bribe an extremely myopic engineer) makes it an enjoyable diversion.

Film Synopsis

In 1912, Rosario Scimoni lives in Catania, Sicily, an ambitious young man who will do anything to gets his hands on the two things he values most in life: women and money.  Tired of working for nothing for his uncle, the town's mayor, he becomes a socialist so that he can be close to the woman he loves, Paola.  Alas, even when he has succeeded in getting Paola's partner arrested, Rosario fails in his suit and instead turns his attention to an ugly heiress whom he hastily marries, just as Italy is taken over by the Fascists.  It suits Rosario to become a Fascist, but after the war he makes a rapid conversion to Communism.  He switches his political allegiance again when the Christian Democrats win the 1948 national election and embarks on a new career as a film director, hoping to win the favour of an aspiring young actress.  To finance the film, Rosario becomes implicated in a shady real estate deal and ends up in prison.  Even this sad turn of events doesn't dampen his enthusiasm for life...