Amarcord (1974)

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Amarcord sure is a fun ride! There is no main character (so to speak), there is no overarching plot; it is simply a window to the village of Borgo San Giuliano, in pre-WWII Italy, that stays open for a year, from spring to spring. We get to spend two hours simply watching its picturesque inhabitants interact with each other, and, if that sounds dull, then you probably have never watched a movie by Federico Fellini...

As I usually do, I had no idea what to expect when I set myself to watch Amarcord: I had never read anything about the movie or seen any stills from it, so as to free myself from any bias or preconceived ideas. What I found was one of the most enjoyable movies I have ever watched! Everything feels so natural, so effortless, that most of the time it seems the actors are just improvising their lines. The sad thing is, the Blu-ray version available in Japan has no extras whatsoever... I would have loved to watch any behind-the-scenes footage, to confirm (or refute) my impression that all those involved with Amarcord were having as much fun offstage as they seem to be having onstage.

The character we follow the most is the teenager Titta (Bruno Zanin), interpreted by many movie critics (including Ebert) as the embodiment of Fellini himself. Because Titta is in the age when the transition between short- and long-pants occurs, it reminded me of Cinema Paradiso (1990) and Malena (2000), both by Giuseppe Tornatore, both telling coming-of-age stories of their respective main male characters. However, whereas in Cinema Paradiso, this theme is intertwined with that of the love of cinema (never failing to make my eyes sweaty every time I watch it), Malena deals exclusively with the platonic love the protagonist nurtures for the tile character, a woman cursed by her beauty.

Gradisca (Magali Noël), center
We learn the women Titta lusts for, and the one he desires the most, Gradisca (Magali Noël), always depicted in white and bright red. Gradisca is the kind of woman every boy would fall in love with, and she is well aware of that. Again here an obvious parallel with Monica Bellucci's Malena can be made, although, given the circumstances, Malena chose to ignore the effect she had on men. (As a side note, I strongly believe that every guy in the world should watch Malena at least once in his lifetime.) Gradisca herself confesses to be tired of being single, ending up marrying a Fascist official by the end of the movie. Was this out of love? Was she just tired of being alone? The movie does not tell. It's not her story after all. I confess I would have liked to know, however...

Caghetta's boat
A great deal of screen time is also dedicated to Titta's father, Aurelio (Armando Brancia), a simple man who does not believe in Fascism, proving so by setting up a gramophone at the bell-tower of the church to play The Internationale, the hymn of the resistance, when a high ranking Fascist official comes to visit the town. During that visit, we have the first glimpse of Fellini's view on Il Duce's regime, as children are made to do gymnastics in front of that leader to show how they are "sturdy as rock". This is a funny scene, true, but this topic comes to play beautifully later on in the movie, when everybody in town hops on boats to see Caghetta's boat, the biggest thing the regime has ever built as stated by one of the townsfolk, to pass by. The ship is nowhere to be seen while they are awake; however, when they are all sleeping, they are "awakened" to finally take a glimpse of that wonder, which quickly fades to dark, as everybody is framed floating on make-believe waves. How can you symbolize any better than that the mass illusion the Fascist Italy was?

Miranda (Pupella Maggio)
One of my favorite characters is Titta's mother, Miranda (Pupella Maggio). The chemistry between her and Titta's father, Aurelio (Armando Brancia), is fantastic, and it makes me laugh out loud every time I watch the scene where the entire family is having a meal, and she threatens to kill everybody by putting strychnine in the soup. In fact, since every second of screen time dedicated to either character is damn fun to watch, it would come as no surprise that some of the best moments in Amarcord come from their sharing the scene, as when they make their yearly visit to Aurelio' brother, Teo (Ciccio Ingrassia), who is locked away in the sanatorium. The result is a scene lasting for a 15-minute smile.

Actually, there are so many great characters in this movie that I am glad it does not focus on any of them, so as not to reduce the screen time of the others. I am also really fond of Father Balosa (Gianfilippo Carcano), because, by having been raised a Catholic myself, I am no stranger to the tale of Saint Louis's tears, and that made me smile. Also, by having been raised in a small town, I too have heard many "I swear to God" stories from the likes of Biscein (Gennaro Ombra).

To top the great directing, writing and acting, there is Nino Rota and Carlo Savina's score. More than once I found myself humming Amarcord's main theme, while reminiscing of the movie and laughing to myself (always leading to nervous stares toward my person in the Japanese trains). If only the movie was longer, though... Don't get me wrong: 127 minutes is a pretty respectable running time. The thing is, there are so many interesting characters, so many stories left to be told, so much more you crave to know about the townsfolk, that those two hour fly by like minutes...

There are so many memorable scenes, so many great lines, that I was having a hard time deciding how I would end this post. That is, until I stumbled upon the image below, which perfectly describes the entire movie. If it seems to make no sense at all, just do a favor to yourself and watch the damn movie!


Summarizing it:
Liked
Didn't like
Pretty much everything, specially Titta's parents
With so many interesting stories to tell, it could have been longer...

Most memorable line:


Great Movie review by Roger Ebert here.

If you liked this movie, then maybe try watching Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960).

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