Amarcord (I remember) (1973)

Federico Fellini may be the greatest director to have ever lived. While there are differences of opinions as to which of his films is his best, most people agree that his most purely entertaining movie is “Amarcord”. “Amarcord” is a phonetic translation of the Italian words, “Mi Rocordo”, which translates as, “I remember”. This is a movie based on Fellini’s childhood memories and fantasies, even though he claims that it is not autobiographical. It is a near perfect amalgamation of reality, surrealism, and cinematic flair.

The movie follows one year during the 1930s in a small seaside village near Rimini, which is the city that Fellini grew up in.    The film begins with the arrival of spring, symbolized by beautiful floating poplar seeds filling the village sky, as the townspeople make their way to the village square for a traditional bonfire that heralds the coming of spring.   At the conclusion of the movie, winter has ended, and the poplar seeds fill the sky again.      The year is symbolized by the seasons.     It is the bonfire that brings everyone out and Fellini uses it to introduce us to his large and colorful cast of characters.   These include the town beauty Gradisca, for whom all the town men and boys lust after, The teenager Titta, for whom it is generally accepted, represents a young Fellini, Titta’s Communist contractor father, Titta’s suffering mother, Titta’s two uncles, one of whom is committed in an asylum, the local Priest who loves to hear about the sexual obsessions of the boys and men of the town (mostly concerning Gradisca), a provincial Fascist leader, the local nymphomaniac (a prettier version to the one Fellini introduced us to in 81/2), the theatre owner who thinks he resembles a movie star and is full of himself, and many more.    Moving through the year to summer, autumn and then winter, the movie is chock full of delightful vignettes of life that are at once theatrical, nostalgic, and full of humanity.   

Being a Fellini film, the movie comes from the man who brought us the thought-provoking surrealistic beauty of 81/2 and Juliete of the Spirits, and its nostalgia is never rooted at any one time too long into reality.   Each time we start getting absorbed into a story line, Fellini takes us into its dream version.    For example, everyone in town hears that a great Italian Ocean liner will pass by their coastline, and the entire town loads up onto anything that will float so that they can all wait many hours on the water, in order to see a great symbol of Italian might (the liner).   When it arrives, it is, of course, a special effects prop made to tower over the small boats full of mesmerized people.     Fellini expertly melds the original party atmosphere with the silent patience of the sea that then ends in the surrealistic dream of the actual appearance of the ship.   It is one of the finest as well as the longest of the vignette stories contained in the movie.     

“Amarcord” is easily Fellini’s most humorous and warm film.     The depth of the humanity and love that Fellini fills his characters with is wonderful to behold.    Within this context, there is a lot of human humor.   Titto and his family are what I would call a southern Italian brood who place all their emotions on their sleeves.    There is a family dinner that needs to be seen to be believed, with the father screaming at everyone in anger, the sons arguing within themselves, the mother crying threats of suicide, and an uncle who can’t take his hand off the hired help.   All to hilarious effect.   There is also the owner of the cigar shop, who is a large, huge-breasted middle-aged lady, who one day, on realizing that Titto dreams about what is under her shirt, allows his fantasy to be fulfilled with sudden, shocking and extremely funny results.     The uncle, who is committed to the asylum, on a weekend out with the family, climbs a tree, screaming that he wants a woman.    These are all highlights of the absurdity of life that are emphasized in the movie and, to hilarious effect.

I appreciated the fact that Fellini does not ignore the politics of the period he so lovingly portrays.   1930’s Italy was the time of early Fascist rule in Italy, and near the beginning of the movie there is a large Fascist rally that portrays bootstrapping by fascist leaders as if they were clowns in a circus.   The parade within the town is over the top and very gaudy, ending in a silly wedding ceremony of an overweight oaf with a gun alongside his newlywed simpleton waif.   This section does contain one of the few dark segments in the movie when these same fascists torture and interrogate Titta’s Father.      This segment succeeds in showing the true love within Titto’s family.    Death, birth and marriage are also enveloped into the varied amalgamated plots woven within this fascinating film.  

Of all things, Fellini is a visualist director who imprints his own artistic style on his movies.   “Amarcord” is no different, containing many immense scenes of beauty.    There are many from the floating poplar seeds, the Liner passage through the sea, the bonfire, and the wonderful beauty of the first snowfall.   Of all these illustrious scenes, there is one scene during the first snowfall, where a peacock lands on the pure white landscape and spreads its tail feathers full of color and grandeur.    It is not only one of the most beautiful scenes in the movie, but one of the most beautiful scenes in all cinema.  

Fellini’s “Amarcord” is one of those timeless works of art that give a unique sense of pleasure to me at each subsequent viewing.  It is a movie I never get tired of and one that actually grows in its ability to entertain at each viewing.  It is a masterpiece of cinema art, and one of the greatest movies ever made.