This is Fellini's Italy as he remembers it when he was a young boy. It's an an ensemble featuring a number of interesting characters centering around teenage Titto, his friends, family and neighbors. Fellini was not a fan of the fascism of the time and we see that in character's reactions to the new developments in the government. The film is like a scrapbook with a number of humorous stories about fascism, the Catholic church, school, and family. For example, Titto has a very grouchy and temperamental uncle and a loving and devoted aunt, and they often argue. These family scenes are very enjoyable. The town has a prostitute, and we get to meet her a bit. There is also a hairdresser character, Gradisca, played by Magali Noël. She's the woman who every man has a crush on, and eventually marries in the end, in a big wedding where everyone in town is invited. There are also funny moments in the classroom and with the teachers.
I really enjoyed this movie very much. I thought of Woody Allen's Radio Days and how similar they both are, and also thought of other coming of age films that owe alot to this film. It is very lyrical and beautiful to watch, photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno the same cinematographer who shot Robert Altman's Popeye, another movie that this reminded me of.
Though much less cerebral than 8-1/2, there are a number of symbolic elements that have kept critics discussing ever since the film came out, including the famous ship scene and the peacock scene. Why do they appear in the film? Well, the ship is a grand construction of Italy (based on the real SS Rex), and is source of great pride to the villagers. The peacock, well, that's not so easy to explain. It's rare appearance suggests royalty or even a angelic spiritual presence. There are a number of wonderful moments like that in the film, including a scene showing a rare snowfall that really happened one year. I haven't heard the DVD commentary yet but plan to because there's so much to enjoy in this, and so much history as well.
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| Magali Noël in Amarcord |
Our instructor for the course was Dr. Constance Markey, who is the co-author of the 1978 book Federico Fellini: A Guide to References and Resources and the author of the 1999 book Italo Calvino: A Journey toward Postmodernism. She has taught Italian literature and film at DePaul University for many years. During our final class discussion, she and her husband brought in two bottles of wine for us to enjoy! It was nice. She taught us a few Italian words and phrases and talked about her travels to Italy, pointing out that many of the settings in Amarcord are still as they look today; she roomed in houses just like Titto's family's house.
She also mentioned that she and her husband went to see the Venice-set The Tourist (which I reviewed the other day here) but didn't care for it much other than for the scenery. She said movies like that don't stay in her head long after the film is over, like Amarcord . I didn't argue with her about it. The Tourist for me I guess is a guilty pleasure I suppose.
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
I read through your Fellini posts. Your teacher wouldn't like me very much because Fellini's movies have not done much for me when I've watched them. I didn't dislike them, other than 8 1/2 (I'm with you there), but most of them were nothing special to me, either.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, the one Fellini film that I truly did like wasn't one of the ones you reviewed. That was Nights of Cabiria.
My second favorite Fellini film is probably either Amarcord or La Dolce Vita.
Yeah, I haven't had the chance to review Nights of Cabiria because I haven't watched it yet, but it's in my queue.
ReplyDeleteSo many of his films, if not all, are so personal. It's not always easy for me to interpret the films by myself (the class forced me to study them).