Films shot in the Etna capital evoke all the city's charms, through its streets, monuments, and artifacts. Films that also depict the contradictions of a society, Southern Italy, called to abandon old social conventions and evolve. The art of getting by It's a film that represents all of this, between the charm of the city and the habits of the average Catanese.
Film Contents
Rosario Scimoni, called Sasà, played by Alberto Sordi, is a man unable to employ any constructive ability to make his way in life. The only tool he uses, for decades, is careerism. Sasà switches political parties with utter superficiality, depending on the socio-political context. The aim is always to gain personal advantages. From the class of notables, from which he comes, he moves on to socialism, passing through fascism during the twenty years before becoming a Christian Democrat after the war. His opportunism ends with his arrest for a scam involving a wealthy man from Catania, once a member of the notable caste.
Sasà is also a social climber in his relationships with women: he establishes romantic relationships based on political and economic expediency.
Filming locations and script of the film
The art of getting by It dates back to 1954, the direction is by Luigi Zampa, the story and the screenplay are by Vitaliano BrancatiThe camera traverses various places in the soul of Catania, whose charm emerges in black and white. Piazza Duomo liotru in the foreground, the glimpse of Via Crociferi with the arch, Piazza Dante with the Benedictines. And again the entrance to Villa Cerami, the Fortino and sections of Via Sangiuliano. An immersion, through these finds, into what Catanian society was like in the early twentieth century.
The art of getting by, moreover, represents, albeit comically, all the changes that had taken place in those decades. A society that was evolving, albeit with difficulty, due to significant historical events (fascism and the two world wars). They left a clear message: abandon deference to the monarchy.
Message left by “The art of making do” with its protagonist
Sasà is both a social climber and a simpleton. Unlike those around him, who are truly astute, his naiveté shines through. This combination seems like an oxymoron, but it isn't. The protagonist represents the average man intent on careerism because, in the context in which he has lived, he has been accustomed to it. Alberto Sordi embodies the controversial character in an excellent wayAs he has always done, the actor mocks the superficiality and mediocrity of the average Italian.
The art of getting by It's an example of how cinematic comedy can be constructive and not silly. An intelligent comedy that mocks social conventions, thus reflection and laughter at the same timeThe film is included in the list of 100 Italian films to save.
