Following the success of Alessandro Blasetti’s Altri tempi (In Olden Days, 1952), Italian cinema saw the development of a minor genre of anthology films set in the recent past and often adapted from literary classics. Questa è la vita is an adaptation of four stories by Luigi Pirandello: La patente by Luigi Zampa with Totò, Il ventaglino by Mario Soldati, La giara by Giorgio Pàstina and Marsina stretta, which according to some is Fabrizi’s best directorial work. The main character is a professor invited to the wedding of a former student; a “hippopotamus” (as the story describes him) imprisoned in overly tight clothes, his physical discomfort is what gives him the impetus to resolve a dramatic situation that could undermine the wedding. Pirandello’s concept of humour, dialectically joined by the dramatic in a “feeling of the opposite”, takes on a notably fast pace in this story: ideal inspiration for Fabrizi. Once again, outstanding supporting actors appear in various scenes, including the brief appearance of the bride and groom Walter Chiari and Lucia Bosè, at the time a couple in real life (although not for much longer).

Emiliano Morreale