Part of Mark Kermode's 'Europe in 25 films: the critics’ choice' - featured in The Observer. Fellini’s international reputation would be sealed with his Palme d’Or-winning 1960 feature ‘La Dolce Vita’. But his second solo outing as director had already marked him out as one of the finest Italian filmmakers of his generation. A knockabout comedy-drama, loosely based on the director’s own youthful experiences, ‘I Vitelloni’ details the lives of a group of young bloods (the ‘young calves’ of the title) living in a small coastal town. They drift aimlessly through each day, dreaming of escape from their life in provincial limbo, knowing they should make something of their lives. It won Fellini the prestigious Silver Lion Award at the 1953 Venice Film Festival.