Overview
A darkly comedic exploration of family dysfunction and survival in the slums of Rome.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- sardonic
- grotesque
- abrasive
- late night cinephile viewing
- dark comedy marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as a fierce, grotesque, and socially incisive example of commedia all'italiana, driven by Nino Manfredi's performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The overcrowded shack, squalid living conditions, and family members' murderous schemes turn poverty and domestic life into abrasive black comedy.
Four generations plot against one another through poisoned dinners, arson, adultery, and land swindles.
The family lives in a cardboard shantytown in inner-city Rome, making marginalization central to the film's social perspective.
The film is explicitly identified with commedia all'italiana and uses comic cruelty to examine poverty, greed, and hypocrisy.
Films like Ugly, Dirty and Bad, and why
The Working Class Goes to Heaven
shares commedia all'italiana's caustic social satire, grotesque humor, and economically marginalized ensemble
The Organized Crime
combines bitter working-class comedy, domestic dysfunction, and sharp critique of social inequality
The Great Beauty
shares corrosive family conflict, bleak comic tone, and an unsentimental portrait of poverty
The Dinner
offers similarly abrasive Italian social satire with vulgarity, moral squalor, and comic cruelty
Movie Details
- Director
- Ettore Scola
- Release Date
- 1976-09-23
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (357)
Cast
- Nino Manfredi
- Francesco Anniballi
- Maria Bosco
- Giselda Castrini
- Alfredo D'Ippolito
- Giancarlo Fanelli
- Marina Fasoli
- Ettore Garofolo
- Marco Marsili
- Franco Merli
Common questions
- What is Ugly, Dirty and Bad about?
- A viciously comic portrait of a Roman shantytown family whose overcrowded survival becomes a contest of greed, betrayal, and attempted murder.
- What is Ugly, Dirty and Bad like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Ugly, Dirty and Bad as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Ugly, Dirty and Bad violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Ugly, Dirty and Bad as moderate.
- What did critics think of Ugly, Dirty and Bad?
- Critics broadly regard it as a fierce, grotesque, and socially incisive example of commedia all'italiana, driven by Nino Manfredi's performance.
- Which films are like Ugly, Dirty and Bad?
- Films with a similar feel include The Working Class Goes to Heaven, The Organized Crime, The Great Beauty, and The Dinner.
- How long is Ugly, Dirty and Bad?
- Ugly, Dirty and Bad runs 115 minutes.
