ITALY ON SCREEN: THE FOUR FACES OF AUGUSTO
Sept 2010
In Fellini's Il Bidone, Broderick Crawford plays Augusto, a small-time swindler, whose preferred con-trick is to dress up as a Catholic prelate and trick peasants into giving over their lifetime savings. This corruption is humanized by his fatherly relation to his daughter and by an encounter with a disabled girl on the farm he visits in order to swindle, but it all ends badly for him. The formal, ethical and spiritual ideas in this film are explored in my essay 'The Catholic Church in Il Bidone: Salvation or Swindle?' in 'Italy on Screen' published by Peter Lang AG in 2010.
Here are four images from the film to whet your appetite:
Augusto plays the role of Bishop: blessing the false remains (left) and receiving the real money (right)
Which is the real Augusto? The disillusioned swindler (left)? Or the father with his daughter (right)?