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The Organizer



In turn-of-the-twentieth-century Turin, an accident in a textile factory incites workers to stage a walkout. But it’s not until they receive unexpected aid from a traveling professor (Marcello Mastroianni) that they find a voice, unite, and stand up for themselves. This historical drama by Mario Monicelli is a beautiful and moving ode to the power of the people, brimming with humor and honesty. The Organizer (I compagni) features engaging, naturalistic performances; cinematography by the great Giuseppe Rotunno; and a multilayered, Oscar-nominated screenplay, by Monicelli, Agenore Incrocci, and Furio Scarpelli.

Disc Features

- New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Introduction by director Mario Monicelli from 2006
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by film critic J. Hoberman

Rosenbaum -

Marcello Mastroianni in one of his best roles, as a late-19th-century labor leader orchestrating a strike at a Turin textile plant. Directed by Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street) with an exquisite handling of period, this powerful film had a sizable impact when it came out in 1963, though it?s been curiously neglected ever since. Arguably one of the great Italian films of the 60s, it cries out for rediscovery. In Italian with subtitles. 130 min.

kinjitsu wrote:PLUS: An essay by film critic J. Hoberman

*sighs mournfully*

criterion.com wrote: Mario Monicello

Looks like I'm finally the first to spot an error on the Criterion site.
Haven't seen this but it sounds outstanding.
EDIT: I had misspelled "Criterion," oh the irony.

Gregory wrote:Haven't seen this but it sounds outstanding.

Yeah, it really is. I haven't seen much else by Monicelli (Casanova 70 and Girl With a Pistol), but The Organizer reminds me of Visconti's neo-realist films, and I probably prefer it to those (by a hair).

Thomas Dukenfield wrote:... The Organizer reminds me of Visconti's neo-realist films, and I probably prefer it to those (by a hair).

Other than being Italian and in black and white, I'm not sure how I compagni is connected neorealism.

TMDaines wrote:

Thomas Dukenfield wrote:... The Organizer reminds me of Visconti's neo-realist films, and I probably prefer it to those (by a hair).

Other than being Italian and in black and white, I'm not sure how I compagni is connected neorealism.

Well, it's seemingly influenced by neo-realism, even if it's technically not neo-realism, just as Visconti had that transitional period. Or, if you prefer, "post-neo-realism", although I might've just made that up.

Either way, it's realistic, and it goes into everyday detail about lower class people. It just lacks the melodrama associated with someone like De Sica. The fluid widescreen camera work also reminded me a bit of that "transitional" Visconti period.

Thomas Dukenfield wrote:Well, it's seemingly influenced by neo-realism, even if it's technically not neo-realism, just as Visconti had that transitional period. Or, if you prefer, "post-neo-realism", although I might've just made that up.

It's more what has been referred to as pink neorealism (neorealismo rosa), but how much this "movement" really had to do with neorealism is questionable. The problem with Italian cinema is that so much of it is just slapped with the neorealism tag without much rhyme or reason. All it really refers to is the series of films made after the neorealist period, which were much more light hearted, or even comedic, and often almost satirised the topics neorealism focussed on.

kinjitsu wrote: - Introduction by director Mario Monicelli from 2006

Criterion's been sitting on this one. I remember seeing it in Jan. 2007 when a Janus roadshow came to town (Seattle). At the time I thought, Great, the CC will no doubt be bringing this out soon, looking forward to a re-watch. So, a mere five years later . . .

For what they're worth, my viewing notes have survived:

Despite the subject matter, this is a highly entertaining film, an ensemble piece handled with a very light touch. Achieving this level of entertainment, however, required several concessions. First, the characters are all stereotypes: the idealized idealistic intellectual, the young firebrand in need of grounding, the hooker with a heart of gold, the big dumb ox, the cunning-as-rats managers. Also, the terrible factory conditions are so lovingly photographed (in b &w by Giuseppe Rotunno) that one can actually become nostalgic for them. But it's hard to argue with these choices when one sees how they've contributed to produce such a pleasing entertainment.

From Bosley Crowther's 1964 NYTimes review...

Maybe you wouldn't expect a two hour Italian film about a strike in a Turin textile factory at the end of the 19th century to be especially entertaining. But wait until you see "The Organizer" ("I Compagni"), which came to the Coronet yesterday.

Surpassing my expectations, at least, this simple social drama turns out to be engrossingly human, compassionate and humorous. It is an account full of character of a pathetically primitive effort by a group of factory workers to better their lot (which is awful), with the help and encouragement of a vagrant school teacher who seems to have had a little experience with the technique of the strike.

Don't let Bosley's endorsement mislead you; it's still good.

TMDaines wrote: It's more what has been referred to as pink neorealism (neorealismo rosa), but how much this "movement" really had to do with neorealism is questionable. The problem with Italian cinema is that so much of it is just slapped with the neorealism tag without much rhyme or reason. All it really refers to is the series of films made after the neorealist period, which were much more light hearted, or even comedic, and often almost satirised the topics neorealism focussed on.

Well, like Big Deal on Madonna Street. The Organizer felt more indebted to neo-realism to some others that fit into this "pink" period, but I only saw it once on VHS like 8 years ago. It's possible that Monicelli was trying to critique neo-realism in some way but I didn't catch that. Either way, I'm looking forward to the blu-ray to really watch it the right way, and the interview should be interesting.

It's been quite a few years (like 15) since I've seen this, but I remember it very warmly and was delighted to see that it would be released. Mastroianni is endearing and squirrelly as the title character, and the fact that his idealism is largely doomed doesn't detract from either impression. One thing I remember vividly: Mastroianni's character gives a speech that is absolutely rousing, and the Chicago audience I was with (I think at the Siskel Film Center, though it wasn't called that then) broke into spontaneous applause when it was over. I think that Monicelli is really deft at capturing a lot of the contradictions of Mastroianni's character, and the entire organizing effort as well, both with a great deal of sympathy. I've read a lot of proletarian novels from the 30s and 40s, and I think this film is the superior of many of them; it manages to be inspiring while not glossing over problems (which mostly stem from people being people and hence imperfect). So, while my memory is hazy on a lot of details, I do know that this has been one of my top 10 wishes for a DVD/Blu release for a long time.

One the best scripts I know, perfect XIX century atmosphere, and the English title for once in the life is related with the film.
If Italian speakers want to continue with socialism, try Mauro Bolognini's Metello. The trouble is that Metello, in colour, set in Firenze, it is so much beautiful and I miss "the message".

Screencaps

Gian Piero Brunetta notes that is part of a group of roughly concurrent films concerned with the industrial workplace and workers' - both blue collar and white collar - situation and rights, and raised conciousness thereof in the early 1960's...

In addition to I COMPAGNI/THE ORGANIZER (1963), concerned with factory workers' rights, set in the early 20th Century, but immediately relevant to the time of its release and then current unionisation issues, these would include...

ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS/Visconti (1960) - set in industrialised Milan, where the Parondi family move en masse to seek mainly manual work..

IL POSTO/Olmi (1961) & I FIDANZATI (1962) - both also concerned with economic migration, the first a young man from a small village moving to the bottom bureaucratic rung of a large office in the city of Milan, the second a relationship strained by the man's posting to a new job in Sicily

Let's add to your list two films: Napolitani a Milano, and Gianni Amelio's Cosi ridevano (southerns in Turin), but both Compagni and Metello are turn of century period fims. The other were "contemporany"

There's La classe operaia va in paradiso (Petri, 1970), which has an English friendly DVD from Raro/Minerva in Italy, too. This is a more serious film focussing on the unions and the role of students in the late 60s and early 70s though.

I remember this film - I haven't seen it, but years ago, when I was reading this film textbook that my brother brought home, there was a page or two on the impact of subtitles/translations on foreign films, and they singled out this one as an example. From what I can recall (and again, I've never seen the film, so you'll have to excuse me for any mistakes), the film's socialist tendencies was curbed a bit by the subtitled print seen in America, where the translation brought out a feeling of individualism over the film's sense of communal strength. The book didn't present this as a conscious political maneuver - I think the argument was that American films seem to favor that sensibility in their protagonists, and that natural inclination was the likely reason for what happened with the translation.

Anyone here understand both languages? Did they see this in the translation?

I can't address this film specifically but things like this happen all the time with translations of works. Sometimes it's done deliberately by the distributor to "cater" for a different market (whatever that means), or just as flat out censorship. Other times things can just be lost in translation, especially when dealing with issues such as politics where two areas don't share the same frames of reference.

The American title is about an individual person, the original Italian is about a group ( the comrades). In the 60's with cold war, let's imagine everything was altered.
As I wrote in the Matarazzo thread, fan subtitle makers have noticed that all Italian films in US are poor, with changes and wrong adapted. I watch all Italian films without subtitles (except when they are from Naples, oh my God, then I need even Spanish) so I am not a help.

Very good point, the Italian title I COMPAGNI is about a workplace collective galvanised into taking an united action, the US title THE ORGANIZER focuses on the individual catalysing and leading the movement, rather than the dynamics of the agitating group itself... The European concept of social justice and community versus the American idea of individualism and achievement...

Terrific film.
I'd agree that the title is a little misleading.
I thought the film was going to be about Mastroianni's character leading the strike, but really it's an ensemble piece. Sure there are stereotype characters but they are pretty lovingly handled and fleshed out a bit.

There's some nice humor throughout.
I liked when some of the illiterate workers are asked why they came late to night school. And one old worker proudly says that they took collective action to quit work an hour early.
"But you're an hour late!"
"Well... it didn't go so well," he mumbles.

Or when the rather large woman on the worker's committee is annoyed with how an old man treats his daughter. So as they are leaving the room, she says "Lady's first" and bangs the skinny old guy out of the way with her bulk in very unladylike fashion.

Also, the coal thievery scenes.

At times the film reminded me of 30's Renoir a bit.