Review of Amarcord (1973) by Hana L — 06 Dec 2008

"I want one of those encounters that last a lifetime" Gradisca (Magali Noel) the beautiful Turkish born actress sums up this beautiful picture with simply one line. Fellini gently guides us through this elliptical story and with his charismatic approach; he brings out an innate sincerity in people, actor or non-actor.

Here he captures the essence of togetherness, family, and exploits a true sense of community. I couldn't catch one moment where there was anybody alone, except when Volpina (Josiane Tanzalli) is at the beach looking out into the ocean.

This image of staring out into the great unknown is something that has come up in a few of Fellini's other pictures. In "I Vitelloni" we see a quick wide shot of Fausto and his boys at the pier staring off into the endless sea.

Then in "Nights of Cabiria" right after Maria's hopeful husband to be, up and leaves her on a cliff staring out into the water. The only difference here is the full growth and progress. This may be in regards to Fellini's age or simply his growth as a filmmaker.

Either way, Fellini presents us with a coming of age tale, where his characters truly come of age, and maybe they don't fully capture that great unknown, but they definitely find out something about themselves, which leaves us no other option, but to do so as well.