Amarcord

Amarcord (1974)

Director: Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini
Tonino Guerra

Cast:

Bruno Zanin
Magali Noel
Josiane Tanzilli
Pupella Maggio
Armando Brancia
Maria Antonietta Beluzzi

Running Time: 123 Minutes

Amarcord is the first film I have ever seen by Federico Fellini. I know he has made many films that are considered to be masterpieces in the eyes of many film goers and critics alike. If Amarcord is anything to go by then I'd have to start taking notice and agreeing with people. For me this is so far the best film I've witnessed in the Criterion Collection. One I'd recommend to anyone who wants to get into Federico Fellini and see what the man is capable of or even his visual style in terms of cinema.

The story of Amarcord is set in the time frame of one year in a coastal town in Italy. We as an audience are witness to the characters that inhabit this small town. We being in Spring and for the next two hours we are thrown many characters and situations that could almost be considered fantasy. From the DVD Commentary it explains that this movie is semi autobiographical in the sense that this town represents in some form the town of Rimini in which Federico grew up in, the only difference about our village in the movie is that some aspects border on the carnivalesque and more so based a little out of reality. This only adds to the imagination and visual aspect of the film and that's what made it a brilliant piece of work for me.

What I loved about Amarcord is that it didn't feel like it had a completed plot or a story that had somewhere to go. It might have had some form of destination for other people but for me it felt like it just didn't have a story that had a direction. This however for once is not a bad thing at all. The movie flows so smoothly and at two hours some films would buckle without a sure fire solution. The characters of Amarcord are what keep this movie moving and it's them that make this piece of cinema a character driven fantasy. At the end of the movie and after so many different characters and little stories involving this town it just felt like I had witnessed a place I'd have wanted to visit myself.

Amarcord is what I would describe as a dark comedy. It has moments that are downright hilarious. It also has moments of dark comedy. What it contains are many scenes involving great sadness and loss. Sexuality and some moments that I found were boarding almost on a horror movie. It reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood. So when these scene all take place in the movie they end up being a visual feast for the eyes. The scenes of Fascism are the scenes that come closest to this movie boarding on the darker side of comedy. The movie crosses so many genre elements it's hard to keep track of what is witnessed by the town in the four different seasons. Still all worthy of never slowing the film down for a second. It never feels boring and long.

Now onto the visual aspect of Amacord, for being my first Fellini film, I have to say that his eye for the visual aspect in this movie is astounding. I could name a hundred things in this film that just blew me away visually but I want to mention the ones that mainly stood out. The scene involving the town on boats watching the Il Rex float past. This scene is just amazing. It looks stunning and the way it's done and not to notice what is pointed out in the commentary just goes to show that less is more. The Burning of The Witch Of Winter is another beautiful scene and lastly the scene involving the peacock displaying it's colours on the frozen fountain is stunningly beautiful. And these are just three scenes that I noticed as some of the best sequences in the film. Fellini is a brilliant visual director and Amarcord shows that perfectly.

Lastly Amarcord is a movie that so far has been my favorite in the movies I've witnessed in the Criterion Collection. It is a visual masterpiece driven by the characters we meet through out the film. So many wonderful moments make this dark comedy a cinematic treasure. Not once in the two hour running time was I ever bored during Amarcord. The movie is visually stunning. The soundtrack is wonderful. The direction from Fellini is brilliant and the acting while not always perfect doesn't ever take anything away from the movie. I loved every element of this movie and on repeat viewings I could see this movie becoming a personal favorite of mine. Highly recommend to anyone who loves there character driven comedies with a side of imagination and fantasy. A beautifully made movie.


NOTABLE SCENES:

- Chapter Three: Burning The Witch Of Winter: One of the more visual oriented sequences in the movie and also one of the only scenes in the film that contains the whole town in the one scene. The welcoming of Spring is started with the bonfire that burns the Witch Of Winter. The scene has many funny moments and also a bonfire that sets the mood of this towns gatherings. A standout is when one man doesn't let another off the top of the already burning bonfire causing the guy to completely panic. Funny if I don't say so myself.

- Chapter Six: The School: This sequence shows the audience on what the teachers are teaching the students but with a twist. The scene could easily be classed as a bunch of gross out gags that you'd like find in an American Pie film. Yet with Fellini it's just hysterical. Scenes involving urine being sent from the back of the class to the teachers feet all while using rolled up tubes of paper. Language class gone wrong. The teacher drinking while teaching. All scenes that are hilarious and make for one of the funniest moments in the film.

- Chapter Eighteen: Il Rex: The scene where a lot of the towns people go out to sea to watch a huge luxury liner come past the town. The scene is beautiful but what I love about it is that it starts off in the actual ocean and as we sit and watch the ship sail past you can clearly see that the ocean's water has been replaced by plastic sheets. It is noticeable but for me I found this stunning. Why it's done this way? I have no idea. But it never took me out of the movie. Which is why I loved this scene.

- Chapter Twenty Three: The Peacock: A simple scene that shows the visual aspect of Fellini. A snowball fight followed by the landing of a Peacock on the frozen fountain. Yes it's exactly like it sounds yet it's so beautiful. The scene is only short yet when the peacock opens it's feathers to display it's beauty. It's stunning and one of my favorite scenes. It may have nothing to do with the story or moves it forward. But it's pure visual and it's a great scene.


EXTRAS:

- Audio Commentary: Film Scholars Peter Brunette and Frank Burke talk about everything Fellini. Their commentary is informative. It was a pleasure listening to these men discuss Italian Cinema and Amarcord. They also explain things about recurring characters and informed me on many things that I didn't pick up while watching this movie. One of my favorite commentaries every put on DVD. One I also wont soon forget.

- Deleted Scene: As described on the DVD. The scene has no sound. But what is gathered from the visual side of things. Someone of high accord loses a ring down the drain or toilet. A man from the town goes into the cesspit and tries to locate this missing ring. It kind of is worthless without sound but it would have been great to get a commentary on why it was exactly cut from the film itself.

- American Release Trailer: The Amarcord trailer for America goes for close to four minutes. Just like any standard trailer on any DVD. It's a feature that isn't anything special in terms of features but clocking in at close to four minutes, it's a trailer that shows you lots of footage from Amarcord. Yet from my point of view, it still doesn't show just how layered Amarcord really is which you'd only learn from obviously sitting through the entire film.

- Fellini's Homecoming: This 44 Minute Documentary is basically a trip down memory lane for Federico Fellini's friends and co-workers. It discusses the matters such as his relationships with the town he was born in Rimini. It gets accounts from the people who knew him well and what troubled issues he had with the town. It's a great watch to hear how his friends knew him and how things from Amarcord were true to life or made up in the mind of Fellini.

- Magali Noel Interview: This 15 minute interview with Magali Noel who played the character of Gradisca in Amarcord is a wonderful watch. The actress has a warm spirit and is still beautiful as ever. It was great listening to her tell stories of her time on Amarcord, working with Fellini on several other films and just interesting stories about the one and only Federico Fellini. You could tell that they had a great working relationship and in the interview you can see she really cares for Federico.

- Fellini's Drawings: With this feature I learnt that Fellini began his life working as a Cartoonist. So seeing his drawings of his characters and various locations from Amarcord were a treat. The drawings are almost child like in their design and colours. It was good seeing what he wanted the characters looked like and what they eventually turned out to be in Amarcord.

- Felliniana: One of my favorite features on any DVD is the media section on the DVD. Stills from the film aren't what exactly impress me. It's the international posters and press cards that I really enjoy. The posters from all over the world are fantastic and it's great to see what countries try to turn the Amarcord posters into. Some great. Some strange. All brilliant. On this feature we also get a dozen Radio ads for Amarcord. Basically they are the same just with different reviewers stating how magnificent Amarcord is and that Fellini has won more Oscars for his work then any other director.

- Gideon Bachmann Interviews: Clocking in at an hour and a half these interviews are done with Federico Fellini himself. A great listen to get inside the mind of the director himself. The next interviews are with his mother, sister and his closest friends. The photos that are displayed during this oral interview are fantastic as well. We get to see many pictures of the director and his family. A wonderful treat for any fan of Fellini.

- Restoration Demonstration: One of the best features on the Criterion Releases are the Restoration Demonstrations that are done to their collection before release. Once again we are shown just how far the people at Criterion go to give us these wonderful transfers. Water marks, damaged reels, splices all gone with their technology. A worthy feature on these DVD's.

- Amarcord Booklet: 64 Page booklet featuring an Essay by Film Scholar Sam Rohdie and the full text of Fellini's 1967 essay "My Rimini".

RATING: 10 out of 10

SPINE: 4