575. AMARCORD (1973)

Running Time: 124 minutes
Directed By: Federico Fellini
Written By: Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra
Main Cast: Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia, Magali Noel, Ciccio Ingrassia

FELLINI WEEK: THE CONCLUSION

Well seven films later, after not really having seen any Federico Fellini films, I now feel that I've become acquainted with the director and can now understand why he receives the praise he does. I may not be one who will join in on that praise, but I definitely get it and certainly, some of his films do deserve mass amounts of praise. We finish with "Amarcord" a tame movie, especially in comparison to "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Satyricon" and one that actually delivers a small dose of charm.

Once again Fellini separates his film into different vignettes, using the same central characters to tell many different stories. The story takes place in the town of Rimini, Italy during the 1930s and the rule of Mussolini. The story focusses in on one family in particular, which consists of Titta Biondi, a young student on the verge of manhood, who does what all teenage boys do, aggravates his father and lusts over nearly every woman he comes into contact with, Titta's father, Aurelio, his mother, Miranda, his uncle and several other characters outside the family. The different stories include the escapades of Titta and his schoolmates, the coming of spring and the big bonfire celebration, the passage of the SS Rex and my favorite segment, the visit with Uncle Tio, which provides a good laugh, something uncommon in Fellini's world.

I can't say that I completely adored this movie because in fact, there are some parts that really drag and get mundane. However, those parts are usually followed by a segment that is either funny or charming or just interesting.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!

I'd have to say that among my least favorite segments of "Amarcord" was the arrival of the fascist federale and pretty much everything having to do with politics. I don't see why politics has to come into such a charming little movie about a town. Sure, it was a town that was affected by the rule of Mussolini and this is how Fellini himself remembers it, but surely there wouldn't be a problem with focusing in on the other aspects of growing up in Rimini. It's just a drag because you got this movie dealing with a gang of people, people we come to care about, and it would be nice to just see their day to day life told, instead of having to throw political segments into the mix. Oh well, that's just me, as I've never been one for politics, especially politics that I didn't have to live through and don't fully understand, nor do I care to.

Don't let that throw you off though, it's only a brief segment and really got more ranting from me than it deserved. The other segments of the film, for the most part, are quite good. As I mentioned above, the part with Uncle Teo is great and the segments showing the daily life for Titta and his schoolmates at school are also classic. You get the feeling that Fellini himself pulled the same pranks as the kids in the movie did, or was at least friends with the pranksters. I haven't done the research, but I have a strong feeling, that this, like many other Fellini pictures is very autobiographical. I picture Fellini as the Titta character, lusting after women, visiting the church to go to confession and not fully confessing and giving his father and teachers a hard time.

I've recently realized that I love movies that give us a distinct time frame, and in the case of "Amarcord" we're given one year, from "puffball" arrival to "puffball" arrival (in the movie the arrival of the "puffballs" indicates the ending of winter), and in that time frame, let us deal with a group of characters, see how their lives change in the course of a year, how the better themselves, or worsen themselves and allow us the time to fall in love with the characters. I can't say that I was head over heels for these particular characters, but I definitely cared about them and was interested in their story.

RATING: 6.5/10 With seven Fellini movies now in the books, it is time to move on and moving on will consist in the coming of "Hitchcocktober"!

MOVIES WATCHED: 155
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 846

A WORD ABOUT FEDERICO FELLINI

A little over a week ago, I wasn't that acquainted with Federico Fellini. I had only heard a favorite director of mine, Martin Scorsese, talk about the influence that Fellini had on his work and had always had a desire to delve into the works of Fellini, but always to afraid to try. Afraid, because I didn't want to not like his pictures, and then be faced with that question, "Well if I don't like Fellini, then what do I really know about film?" I'm happy to have gotten the opportunity to visit with seven of Fellini's works and even more happy to say that I really enjoyed some of them. He had a knack for visual imagery and left me breathless with some of the visuals that I was treated to in some of his movies. He knew how to work his camera, to always keep it moving. He knew when to pull out, be still and let the story unfold for itself and he knew when to be fast, get in their close and grab hold of the story.

I'm glad that I decided to watch all seven of the Fellini films in the "1001" book, because now I can look back on the time that I spent with Federico and look at it as a whole, compare his films and I think, talk intelligently about his films and the impact they had on me as a film watcher. Whether I liked the movie or hated, after a while I learned that going into a Fellini movie was probably not going to be a boring experience and that there was going to be SOMETHING that you liked, be it the performances that he drew for his actors, the photography that he captured with his camera or the stories that he told.

October 3, 2010 2:16pm