The Organizer [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Mario Monicelli Mario Monicelli

Overview

The Organizer (I Compagni) takes a gritty, near-documentary approach to its subject matter: the exploitation of Italian laborers in the 19th century. Shorn of all his studio-imposed glamour, Marcello Mastrioanni plays a Genoan political refugee visiting a friend in Turin. Appalled by the horrible working conditions in the town's textile mill, Mastrioanni stays on to organize the workers in a strike. Though he is nearly killed several times, Mastrioanni survives to set an example for the workers, who rally together into a powerful union. The fact that Marcello Mastrioanni was bearded and bespectacled in the manner of a Bolshevist radical was enough for The Organizer to be condemned by certain extreme anti-Communist elements in Hollywood--to no avail, since the film was nominated for an American Oscar, and even given a commendation by the ultraconservative National Board of Review.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/24/2012
UPC:	0715515093613
Original Release:	1963
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	2:10:00
Sales rank:	13,574

Special Features

New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Introduction by director Mario Monicelli from 2006; Trailer; New English subtitle translation; Plus: An essay by film critic J. Hoberman

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marcello Mastroianni	Professor Sinigaglia
Renato Salvatori	Raoul
Annie Girardot	Niobe
Gabriella Giorgelli	Adele
Bernard Blier	Martinetti
Folco Lulli	Pautasso
Francois Perier	Maestro Di Meo
Vittorio Sanipoli	Baudet
Giuseppe Cadeo	Cenerone
Elvira Tonelli	Cesarina
Giampiero Albertini	Porro
Pippo Starnazza	Bergamasco
Pippo Mosca	Cerioni
Franco Ciolli	Omero
Raffaella Carra	Bianca
Antonio Casa Monica	Arro
Enzo Casini	Antonio
Kenneth Kove	Luigi
Mario Pisu	Manager
Gino Manganello	Uncle Spartaco
Edda Ferronao	Maria
Anna Di Silvio	Gesummina,Pietrino
Sara Simoni	Cenerone's Wife
Piero Traiannoni	Bookkeeper
Anna Glori	Signora Cravetto
Bruno Scipioni	Actor
Silvio Anselmo	Actor
Giuseppe Marchetti	Actor
Fred Borgognoni	Actor
Giulio Bosetti	Actor
Gabriella Giorgetti	Adele
François Perier	Maestro Di Meo
Carlo Rustichelli	Composer

Technical Credits

Mario Monicelli

Furio Scarpelli

Agenore Incrocci

Franco Cristaldi	Producer
Mario Monicelli	Director,Screenwriter
Furio Scarpelli	Screenwriter
Agenore Incrocci	Screenwriter