La terrazza

Ettore Scola has made at least two great films, C'eravamo tanto amati and Une giornata particolare. But this time he got carried away. It's not enough to put 20 great actors in a room to end up with a masterpiece. Call it self- indulgent, call it intellectual masturbation, I call it boring. Sorry, Ettore.

The movie's status as a cult classic definitely makes sense to me now. It's a very satirical and thorough look at the italian elite of intellectuals and artists, all of them very narcissistic, pretentious, self-pitying, emotionally unstable, in a constant internal state of decay, brandishing political theory without actually applying it, fighting unsuccessfully against the world of the 80s and capitalism and profit. All the main characters are tragic, and their awareness of their own pathetic nature makes them even more unhappy. They're all men who use women or demand their attention and their love, they try to find happiness where it doesn't belong. The theme of the movie is the humorous existential loneliness of the self-aware bourgeoisie. I have some complaints, like the fact that the movie is a bit long for my taste, and some of the 5 episodes really drag. The actors are almost all pretty good, the final raging monologue of Mario is amazing. The humor holds up pretty well, and it's always interesting to see how an older generation of creatives saw themselves. Overall, not very digestible, but fine as an intellectual and thought provoking portrait of the 80s artlife.

We follow five friends at the same party. A writer, a producer, a director, a politician and a journalist. There they meet new and old flames and quarrel a bit. All are experiencing an intellectual and emotional crisis.

I loved the many subtle symbols in this film. For instance, the young girlfriends; Sergio who is not eating; the crisis of being a leftist ('I'm much more left-wing than you!'); the success of women.

Even better is Scola's mockery with intellectualism. As you sometimes hear at parties people say: 'Mannerism is out of fashion', and you haven't got an clue what the purpose is of this comment. Every character here thinks himself as being witty, except the producer, and it is precisely him who produces a dramatic masterpiece that is praised by the intellectual elite.

Scola portrays disappointments beautifully - it is seen between the lines, as it was as well in Brutti, sporchi e cattivi. So, I highly appreciated this film, but you have to bear in mind it is a film of almost three hours. A perfect film for a rainy Sunday.

Boring???maybe for who doesn't know or understand the Italian situation of the early eighties, and that typical attitude of the left-side radical chic inhabitants of Rome.I do,and I appreciated this movie a Lot.Scola fails so rarely,and this wasn't the case.A great cast made a great movie,probably one of the last successful "Italian comedy" ever.Everything works fine,from the narrative stile of the director,which shows once again how well he can deal with a crowded set,to the script,written as always by himself.Gassman and Satta Flores above all.I wish this movie was more known abroad,24 years are past,but it never lost its taste,still actual and ironic as it should be

Claudia

Horrible sound, horrible photography, horrible screenplay, horrible acting. It seems to be directed with the left foot. Miles and miles away from the masterpieces 'C'eravamo tanto amati' or 'Una giornata particolare'.

Too much ambitious as well as superficial. It tries to represent the moral and political defeat of a generation, but the characters are two-dimensional.

Very uncertain in the choice of style: naturalistic or grotesque? It would have been better to go with the grotesque, because this kind of naturalism is very depressing. Scola used a bunch of actors who have always played anti-naturalistic characters in the glorious years of Italian cinema, so they are poorly utilized.

I'm sure this film will be forgotten over time.