Classic International Movie: “Amarcord”
October is classic international movies month. Today’s guest post comes from Norma Parena.
Movie Title: Amarcord
Year: 1973
Writers: Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra
Lead Actors: Bruno Zanin, Armando Brancia, Pupella Maggio
Awards: 19 wins and 8 nominations including: Oscar, Best Foreign Language Film (1975); Silver Ribbon Awards (Italy), including Best Screenplay (1974); David di Donatello (Italy), Best Film (1974); French Syndicate of Cinema Critics, Best Foreign Film (1975); New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Best Film (1974).
Director: Federico Fellini
Plot summary: A depiction of daily life in a 1930s Italian provincial town under the Mussolini dictatorship. The story follows one year in the life of a teenager (Titta) and his family, plus a number of characters from the coastal town, including Titta’s protecting mum, his proudly antifascist dad Aurelio, his lunatic tree-climbing uncle, the town beauty that Titta and all his friends dream about while dealing with their booming sexuality, the provocative tobacconist with a penchant for young men. Some of the vignettes include confessions to the Catholic priest about Titta’s dirty thoughts, a fantasy scene at the luxury Grand Hotel, Aurelio being grilled by the fascist police, the whole town sailing off the coast by night to witness in a dream-like state the passage of the cruise ship Rex.
Why I Think This Is A Classic International Movie
Although deeply rooted in Fellini’s own individual experience as a boy in a small Italian town with all its legacies (Catholic Church, old fashioned Latin chauvinism, fascism to name a few), Amarcord goes well beyond the local, historical and geographical boundaries. The tragicomic situations Titta and his close ones go through are common occurrence in everybody’s life: growing pains, family dynamics, beautiful women and political conflict. The language Fellini uses to tell his story is dreamlike and popular, and therefore universal and easily shared. The visionary art direction from Danilo Donati and the music from another Italian Oscar winner — Nino Rota — convey perfectly the sweetness of this surreal story without ever falling into cliché’. Amarcord is a sweet and comical outlook on life as such, with the Italian small town artfully used as a background to explore universal topics.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie
There are so many of them…
The majestic cruise ship Rex appearing in the night as a dream.
The town beauty, the Gradisca, bowing in front of the count as a sign of respect while offering herself as a gift to him.
The mad Uncle refusing to get off the tree shouting that he wants a woman.
But my top one has to be… Tatti and his young friends’ group jerk-off while sitting in the car in the garage, with the whole vehicle shaking in a somewhat dirty and innocent wobbliness.
My Favorite Dialogue In The Movie
Titta, his dad Aurelio, mum Miranda and the rest of the family are having dinner around the kitchen table.
Aurelio: By the way, where were you last night?
Titta: Me? At the movies.
Aurelio: And what was showing?
Titta: The Americans were trying to penetrate Comanche territory.
They built a bridge for the railroad, but the Indians shot arrows at them.
It was a massacre!
Aurelio (running after Titta around the table): I’ll massacre you, you little hooligan!
Miranda: What’s going on?
Titta: I didn’t do anything!
Miranda: Aurelio, leave him alone!
Aurelio: I’ll put you in the hospital!
Miranda: People are watching.
Aurelio: Starting tomorrow, no more school, no more allowance! He can start working with me!
Titta: And how will you pay me?
Aurelio: With a hammer in the face! (to Miranda): You have to tell me who fathered this piece of shit!
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
Amarcord is a character driven film, where the plot is secondary. Fellini is so amazingly skilled at depicting a compelling series of characters, that he compensates the lack of a strong storyline.
Although generally unstructured and almost patchy at times, it has been said that Amarcord is aiming to recreate that same matter that dreams are made of. Much of the movie is shot in muted colors that seem slightly out of grain, almost foggy.
Amarcord has also got that quintessential feature of Fellini’s movies which is their inner rhythm, a musical style that became known as “Felliniesque”. Like many Italian filmmakers at the time, he post-synched most of his dialogue, and he also often had a small orchestra or playing music while shooting, to the point that sometimes the actors don’t seem simply to be walking, but almost to be gently moving to an unheard melody.
The narration is left to several points of view: an elderly Titta who visibly forgets his lines, a professor talking a bit pompously about the town’s history, singing voices of the children, and a voice on the soundtrack that is Fellini himself.
If you are only looking for one thing, look for the perfect dreamy beauty of the small town and its everyday life as a symbol of all towns and all lives.
Thanks, Norma!
To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of classic 30s movies, 40s movies, 5os movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on classic international movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got at least 22 movies in the works and hopefully more!
Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!
3 Idiots — Abhinav Tiwari
A Prophet — Paul Graunke
Akira — Clay Mitchell
Amarcord — Norma Parena
Amelie — Kevin Curran
Belle Epoque — Melinda Mahaffey
Cinema Paradiso — Traci Nell Peterson
Diabolique — Sherin Nicole
Jules et Jim — Susan Winchell
Kolya — Melinda Mahaffey
Lady Vengeance — David Joyner
Millennium Actress — Chris Neumann
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies — John Henderson
Reprise — Wally Marzano-Lesnevich
Seven Samurai — Will King
The Lives of Others — Paul Graunke
The Tenant — Marija Nielsen
This Man Must Die — Marija Nielsen
Y Tu Mama Tambien — Georgina Hutchinson
NOTE: Need 1 more volunteer to round out the monthly series!!!