The Swindle starts off feeling like a lightweight crime/comedy, but gets a little sadder and more serious as it goes along. As far as early Federico Fellini films go, it's pretty good, but as a whole, not quite as strong as his very best films are.
Still, even the comedic scenes often feel unusually bleak, given the conmen this movie follows often seem to scam people who are already struggling financially. In that way, I feel like it might be commenting on the bleakness of post-WW2 life in Italy, just not in the way famous neorealism films from the country did in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s.
But when it comes to Fellini as a director, the guy just couldn't help himself when it came to staging big party scenes, could he? A New Year's Eve party that feels as though it takes up most of the second act here really hurts the pacing overall. On and on it goes, with all the Fellinisms you'd expect. Just five or so minutes being trimmed would've made a difference to the overall film.
But pacing aside, a lot of this is very good. The performances work well, I didn't notice as much bad dubbing as usual, and it's a film that looks great, too. The flow - or lack thereof - stops it from being great, but there's thankfully still a good deal to like here.
Still, even the comedic scenes often feel unusually bleak, given the conmen this movie follows often seem to scam people who are already struggling financially. In that way, I feel like it might be commenting on the bleakness of post-WW2 life in Italy, just not in the way famous neorealism films from the country did in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s.
But when it comes to Fellini as a director, the guy just couldn't help himself when it came to staging big party scenes, could he? A New Year's Eve party that feels as though it takes up most of the second act here really hurts the pacing overall. On and on it goes, with all the Fellinisms you'd expect. Just five or so minutes being trimmed would've made a difference to the overall film.
But pacing aside, a lot of this is very good. The performances work well, I didn't notice as much bad dubbing as usual, and it's a film that looks great, too. The flow - or lack thereof - stops it from being great, but there's thankfully still a good deal to like here.