| Il posto | |
| Director: | Ermanno Olmi |
| Producer: | Alberto Soffientini |
| Music: | Pier Emilio Bassi |
| Cinematography: | Lamberto Caimi |
| Editing: | Carla Colombo |
| Distributor: | Titanus |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes (restored version) |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
Il posto, English titles The Job or The Sound of Trumpets,[1] is a 1961 Italian comedy-drama[2] film directed by Ermanno Olmi, his second feature film.[3] Screened at the 1961 Venice Film Festival, it received numerous national and international awards.[4] In 2008, the film was included in the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[5]
The film tells the story of Domenico, a young man who forgoes the latter part of his education, because the family has chosen his younger brother to take up studies. Applying for a job at a big city corporation, he goes through a series of exams, physical tests and interviews. During a brief respite from the tests, he meets Antonietta, a young girl who has similarly forgone her schooling when in need of money to support herself and her mother. Through the course of this meeting, they have coffee at a local cafe and shyly discuss their ambitions and lives. Domenico is attracted to her, but they are quickly separated when they land jobs in different departments.
Meeting with a superior, he is informed that, although he passed the tests, no clerical positions are available, and agrees to take a job as a messenger in the meantime. He is instructed by employee Sartori, who works next to the accountants' office. Trying to find Antonietta, Domenico sees her one day, leaving the building among two other young men. He does not approach her, but later bumps into her during his errands. She invites him to join her at a New Year's Eve party held for the workers, which he decides to attend later in the evening.
Arriving at the party realising Antonietta's absence, he accepts the invitation of an older couple to sit with them. He observes the other guests dancing and having fun, while he remains silently in the company of the couple. When an older woman asks him to dance, he is hesitant at first, but later accepts her invitation, drinking and joining in the party. The night culminates in a simple and free dance in which all the guests participate.
When Domenico returns to work, he is offered the vacated desk of recently deceased employee Portioli of the accountants' department. Before being able to settle into the desk, however, the older staff move up in the rank order, forcing him to take a dimly lit desk in the last row.
Il posto opened in New York on 22 October 1963 under the title The Sound of Trumpets. Failing to find an audience on its initial release, it was given a re-release in January the following year on the occasion of the release of Olmi's follow-up film The Fiancés.[6]
Il posto was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna Foundation and Titanus in 2018[7] and selected to be screened in the Venice Classics section at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.[8]