"The Family," an album with a velvet cover, is meant to touch the extended family of man. Formal portraits, bookends in this 80-year saga, enclose the central story, which opens with the baptism of Carlo, a baby in his grandfather's lap, and ends with Carlo as a grandfather with a baby in his arms. And never once do we get out of the house, whose rooms provide the film's structure. Comfort or passion? Carlo couldn't really decide until it was too late.
Direction
Scola's theatrical staging in single location.
Cinematography
Riccardo Artoni's velvet-warm palette ages with time.
Acting
Gassman plays four generations without leaving the chair.
Director
Ettore Scola
Vittorio Gassman
Carlo as a man / Carlo's grandfather
Fanny Ardant
Adriana
Stefania Sandrelli
Beatrice
Andrea Occhipinti
Carlo as a young man
Cecilia Dazzi
Beatrice as a young woman
Jo Champa
Adriana as a young woman
Joska Versari
Giulio as a child
Alberto Gimignani
Giulio as a young man
Massimo Dapporto
Giulio as a middle-aged man
Carlo Dapporto
Giulio as an old man
Ottavia Piccolo
Adelina
Athina Cenci
Aunt Margherita
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Scola filmed in a real Roman apartment, aging the same rooms across decades rather than building separate sets.
The film's structure deliberately echoes Italian family albums—formal portraits hiding the chaos between frames.
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