This is a quiet film, but it leaves a lasting impression. For the good of his family, a young man (Sandro Panseri) has had to abandon his dream of continuing his education to become a surveyor, and hopes to get a job at a big company that's hiring in Milan. From the moment he steps into a crowded room of other applicants, we feel for him. We can already probably appreciate the anxiety associated with the life transition he's going through, but here it's amplified by the dehumanization of the process and the drones who run it. This continues on when he gets a job there, after which he's put at the same desk with an older worker, and finds that his actual duties are somewhat nebulous. It's so absurd as to be comical, especially as he encounters various forms of petty behavior and bureaucracy in the office.

Lightening the mood a bit is a love interest; he sees a young woman also interviewing (Loredana Detto), and has lunch with her. Even here we sense his awkwardness as he tries to make conversation, and then later struggles to re-connect with her. Panseri registers his feelings very well, often without speaking a word, and it helps that he has such a baby face. The scene where he attends a New Year's Eve party, showing up when only an older couple is present, sits through the somewhat cheesy entertainment, and is cajoled to dance by some kindly older women feels incredibly realistic, and of course this is what director Ermanno Olmi was going for.

Another memorable scene occurs after a worker dies, freeing up a desk for him, but everyone then vies for a better desk, and shifts positions. This may be a little exaggerated, but it is how it feels sometimes in a corporate setting, and the film made me think of Bob Dylan's words "twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift." There's a deadening of the soul that's taking place here, and while we suspect that the young man will be ok as his life plays out, there is a tinge of sadness in it.

This is a film about ordinary people and it is told in an extraordinary fashion; a young man is not terribly excited to be entering the corporate world--and with good reason. But family and custom and lack of formal education can be persuasive, and so he tests for a position and finds himself in a well-ordered black and white world where individuals count for very little; sounds grim, but director Olmi has a keen eye for the richness of humanity, for the sensitivity of existence, for the quiet celebration of being human. This is a remarkable document, all the more so for being without breathless pacing or minute-by-minute explosions or rounds of gunfire; this is a quiet masterpiece about the richness that can be found by merely observing and the loneliness that is a quintessential part of being human.

Ermanno Olmi was a documentary maker in Italy during the 1950s. His roots were in the neo-realism movement that he, like most film fans, greatly admired and cherished their realistic stories. His arrival in the scene as an important voice was cemented with "Il Posto", a film that established him as a man to be reckoned with.

We had seen a restored copy of this magnificent film when it was shown at New York's Film Forum about four years ago and recently, we decided to take another look of the Criterion DVD, a wonderful transfer that will probably open his work to movie lovers all over. "Il Posto" is a great film because it doesn't pretend to be otherwise. Mr. Olmi, working on the screen play with Ettore Lombardo created a picture of the Italy during the boom after their defeat in WWII, as the country was getting back to the business of reconstruction.

It was about this time that cities like Milan and Turin, in the north of the country, became the centers for manufacturing and commerce. It is in this context that we are taken to meet Domenico Cantoni and his family. They have come to Meda, a suburb of Milan, in search of better paid jobs. In the case of Domenico, scoring a position in one of those giant companies it means steady income and a job for life.

Domenico is a clever young man and passes his math test with flying colors. This is the moment when he first sees another young woman, Magali, who is also taking the test. Domenico likes what he sees, but he is too shy to do anything that will make Magali think less of him. When he receives a notification for further tests and interviews, it appears he has been accepted by the firm. This, in turn, turns to be a situation that changes his hopes for developing some sort of relationship with Magali as they are assigned to two different areas of work. Domenico can't even see Magali during his lunch time because they are assigned to different shifts.

As Domenico, who aspires to be an accountant within the firm, is assigned to be a messenger apprentice, something he clearly doesn't deserve, but he must accept, we follow him around different areas within the company. We are taken to watch the people in one typical accounting department, where older employees bide their time until they can retire. Domenico, who hopes to finally hook up with Magali at the company's New Year's party, is once again disappointed when she never arrives. Instead, he must spend a night surrounded by the same people he will be working with. The final sequence of the film shows how Domenico is able to move to the spot where he will probably spend the rest of his life, in which he, being the youngest, is suddenly the center of the department's ill will.

Sandro Panseri makes a fantastic Domenico. This non-professional actor registers in his face all what is going in his head without great gestures, or other affectations. Domenico conquers the viewer's heart because he is genuine and because we realize the goodness in his soul. Loredana Detto, who appears as Magali also makes an impression.

"Il Posto" is blessed by Pier Emilio Bassi's music score and by the black and white cinematography of Roberto Barbieri and Lamberto Caimi. The film is a triumph for Ermanno Olmi, who captured the ambiance and the gist of that era in a wonderful film that will live forever.