A Difficult Life

A Difficult Life (Una vita difficile) is a 1961 Italian comedy-drama directed by Dino Risi from a screenplay by Rodolfo Sonego, and is counted among the outstanding works of the Commedia all'italiana. Starring Alberto Sordi alongside Lea Massari and Franco Fabrizi, the film spans Italian political history from 1944 to 1960, moving from the poverty of the Second World War through the end of fascism and the birth of the Italian Republic to the rise of the Italian Communist Party.

At its centre is Silvio, an idealistic journalist convinced that his political activism will one day be rewarded. As the years pass and he struggles for his democratic ideals, he comes to realize that the Italy he once knew has changed, and that he must change with it. In 2008 the film was selected for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's list of 100 Italian films to be saved, honouring works that shaped the country's collective memory between 1942 and 1978.