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An Average Little Man

An Average Little Man (Un borghese piccolo piccolo)

Movie · 1977 · 13 people

Mario Monicelli directed the 1977 Italian film An Average Little Man, originally titled Un borghese piccolo piccolo. The Italian title literally means "a petty, petty bourgeois", and the film is also known in English as A Very Little Man. It is adapted from Vincenzo Cerami's novel of the same name, published in 1976, and Monicelli wrote the script with Sergio Amidei. It is counted as a tragicomedy: the wry tradition of Italian-style comedy (commedia all'italiana) is joined to the darker tone of psychological drama and tragedy.

Sordi plays the lead, with Shelley Winters and Romolo Valli beside him. The cast also includes Vincenzo Crocitti, Paolo Paoloni, Enrico Beruschi, Renato Scarpa and Pietro Tordi. The film, which runs about 122 minutes, was shown in competition at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.

That year it won three David di Donatello awards: Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. In 2008 it was placed on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's list of 100 Italian films to be saved, which gathers films that changed the country's collective memory between 1942 and 1978. In Spain it was released as Un burgués pequeño, muy pequeño and in Portugal as O pequeno burguês.

DirectorMario Monicelli

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Cast

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Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi Film actor · died at 82 Renato Scarpa Renato Scarpa Actor · died at 82 Shelley Winters Romolo Valli Vincenzo Crocitti Paolo Paoloni Renato Malavasi Enrico Beruschi Francesco D'Adda Ettore Garofolo Pietro Tordi Renato Romano Lina Franchi

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Monicelli's achievement here is bringing the wry language of commedia all'italiana together with the dark tone of psychological drama and tragedy in a single film. The blend works not as a sharp break but as a weight that grows out of a small man's smallness. The structure inherited from Cerami's novel is solid, and the script by Monicelli and Sergio Amidei builds ground strong enough to carry the shift in tone. Alberto Sordi's lead performance was recognised with the David di Donatello for Best Actor. On the other hand, the film feels its length in places, and the slide from comedy into darkness may not convince every viewer equally. Demanding for anyone who starts out wanting to laugh and isn't ready to be unsettled; an important example for anyone curious about how far cinema can stretch genre boundaries.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The original title, 'a petty, petty bourgeois', says plainly where the film is looking: the ordinary middle-class man of 1970s Italy, living by small calculations. Italian-style comedy had always regarded this type with a certain mockery; Monicelli joins that mockery to the dark tone of tragedy and so also exposes the fragility of those small lives. Its place on the 2008 list of 100 Italian films to be saved, made up of films that changed the country's collective memory, signals that it captures the spirit of an era. For Turkish viewers who want to compare it with their own middle-class experience, it can be a familiar mirror.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Families who see the word tragicomedy and expect a light Italian comedy should be careful. The film comes out of the comedy tradition, but it carries the dark tone of psychological drama and tragedy. It isn't a good choice for young children, and teenagers may find it heavy. This is a film for adults to watch among themselves and talk over afterwards.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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