The Joy of Living

Ulisse is a naive young man who returns to civilian life after leaving the army and sets out to find steady work. He accepts a position but then abandons an opportunity tied to a local fascist group, opting instead to join the Fossati household. He thinks he's found ordinary domesticity, only to discover that the Fossatis live by anarchist ideas, a fact he doesn't immediately grasp. The comedy comes from Ulisse's innocence clashing with political fervor, household eccentricities, and the peculiar logic of people who argue about ideology over meals. Along the way he encounters romance, odd allies, and a series of misunderstandings that test his sense of loyalty and practicality, while the tone keeps things light and often satirical.

Released in 1961, The Joy of Living was directed by René Clément, with a screenplay credited to Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. The notable cast includes Alain Delon, Barbara Lass, Gino Cervi, Rina Morelli and Ugo Tognazzi.

Box office records for the film are scarce, and it never achieved wide commercial renown. Contemporary accounts treat it as a modest release, more appreciated later, especially by collectors and European comedy enthusiasts than by mainstream audiences at the time.

The Joy of Living hasn't entered broad popular memory, but cinephiles note its mix of political satire and domestic farce. Alain Delon's presence helps attract viewers now curious about his early roles. The film surfaces occasionally in retrospectives of postwar European comedy and discussions of politically tinged humor and scholarship.

Critical reaction has been mixed, and modern ratings are modest, with a 6.1/10 vote average from a small sample. The story plays with themes of innocence meeting ideology, family loyalty, and social satire. Humor is grounded in character quirks and the absurdity that comes from political misunderstandings and light irony.