MFAH Film Restorations & Revivals: Il Boom

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the Restorations & Revivals film series. Enjoy these classics from world cinema on the big screen in Brown Auditorium Theater!

Il Boom

Director  Vittorio De Sica
Released  1963
Country  Italy
Language  Italian with English subtitles
Running Time  88 minutes
Format  Digital, B/W

Enjoy a digital restoration of Il Boom, which has never been released in the United States!

In the comedy by filmmaker Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves; Umberto D.), a mid-level Italian executive during the economic boom following World War II, Giovanni Alberti (Alberto Sordi), goes to absurd lengths to maintain his wife Silvia’s (Gianna Maria Canale) standard of living.

When Signora Bausetti (Elena Nicolai), the wife of a wealthy industrialist, makes him an offer that would wipe out all of his debts, Giovanni is faced with an eye-popping dilemma.

“A bittersweet satire of the wife-swapping, twist-dancing, get-rich-quick lifestyle.” —Sight and Sound

“Critic’s pick! Among the most savage and surreal of Italian comedies… Vibrant, funny, and disturbing.” — Bilge Ebiri, The Village Voice

“Twenty years later in a post-Berlusconian Italy, its uncanny prescience becomes even more evident.” —Gino Moliterno, Senses of Cinema