September 29th: AMARCORD (Federico Fellini, 1973)

Few directors have their names turned into adjectives; the cinematic description "Felliniesque" is an example of one such honor. Amarcord is a fictional recollection of Fellini's childhood on the Northeastern coast of Italy in the 1930's, and instead of trying to capture the reality of that time and place, the film instead takes a more fantastical look at the past, with a host of colorful characters and bizarre, often ribald situations. The episodic-structured story is all set in the fictional city of Borgo (modeled after Fellini's hometown of Rimini) and takes place over the course of one year.



Fellini started work as a journalist and cartoonist, eventually working his way into screenwriting for neo-realist director Roberto Rossellini. He soon struck out on his own with a more distinct style, and made two well-received films with his wife (actress Giulietta Masina), La Strada and Nights of Cabiria. His big breakthrough came with La Dolce Vita, which broke box office records in Italy, and incurred the wrath of conservative politicians as well as the Vatican for its sexual content.



A turning point for Fellini was his growing interest in psychoanalysis and parapsychology, diving deep into the work of Carl Jung, the I Ching, and eventually experimentation with LSD. His films began featuring more surreal imagery and outright fantasy, beginning with the autobiographical 8 1/2, and continuing with Juliet of the Spirits, Satyricon, Roma, and Amarcord.



While Amarcord is perhaps the funniest and most overall entertaining film in Fellini's oeuvre, it also takes playful yet critical jabs at the rise of Fascism in the 1930's, as well as the controlling Catholic Church. It proved to be a commercial success in Italy, the rest of Europe, as well as the United States, where it won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Fellini had won three previous Oscars in the same category, and was nominated for Best Director four times, both totals the most for any foreign language director.



Fellini's influence ran far and deep, and one can see this in the works of directors as varied as Woody Allen, Bob Fosse, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Pedro Almodovar, and Terry Gilliam, among many others.



Film runs approximately 2 hrs.

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