Review of Amarcord (1973) by Eric F — 21 Mar 2009

"Amarcord" is hosted by a character named The Lawyer (Luigi Rossi), who traces the origins of the town of Romagna back to 268 B.C.. The film centers around the town, based on Rimini, where Fellini grew up, and the variety of characters within.

The Biondi family is the anchor point for the audience - the eyes in which we can see the town and it's colorful characters. The head of the household is Aurelio (Armando Brancia), an old grouch who eventually is held captive by the police due to his anti-Fascist remarks. His wife is Miranda (Puppela Maggio), and together they have a child, intended to be Fellini himself, called Titta (Bruno Zanin). They live with Titta's grandfather (Giuseppe Lanigro), a raunchy old man who vividly recalls his sexual encounters by way of a pumping fist. Later on, we meet the crazy uncle (Ciccio Ingrassia), who finds himself climbing a tree and shouting that he wants a woman. He is rescued by a midget nun. Yes, a midget nun.

The fascist politics of the film are explored through it's effects on the town's citizens. It's not a remarkably political movie, however it's a sort of cautionary tale about the simple-minded buffoonery that fascism could cause. Simple pleasures would run rampant over intellectual stimulation, like the one-track mind of Titta - from masturbating in a car with his friends, to trying to hoist up a busty tobacconist (Maria Antonietta Beluzzi), even though he probably weighs less than one of her breasts. Even Aurelio, who seems like a tragic hero (being forced to drink oil after his anti-Fascist protests), is treated as nothing more than a buffoon.

The least you can say about "Amarcord" is that it is truly alive. The townspeople are rich in numbers, however each of them is such a memorable eccentric that we easily distinguish between them. The anecdotal structure of the film allows for sentimental nostalgia presented in complete unrestrained freedom. It's a movie that completely exploits the color palette - bursting at the seams with reds and yellows, or the magnificent blues of a peacock amongst the snow.

While I loved the craftsmanship of "Amarcord", and had a few laughs here and there, I was mildly disappointed with the film as a whole. It's very loose in structure and, as I said, anecdotal - and while that's fine, I felt unphased by the ending. Most of the jokes work and the absurdities are fairly memorable, however by the end of the film I wasn't invested in anything. Perhaps it's a film i'll appreciate more on successive viewings, but here I was largely entertained but, perhaps due to my expectations, disappointed.