Rating: 4/5
Criterion Challenge 2022 | 31/52 | Spine #1-100 (#4)
amarcord — "I remember"; memory, nostalgic recollection of the past
Borgo San Guiliano, Rimini, Italy
When the puffballs come, then winter's almost gone. When the puffballs soar, then winter is no more.
The village people celebrate the arrival of the floating poplar seeds, swimming through the air, touching all walks of life: rich or poor, tourist or local, living or dead. Their arrival marks the beginning of spring, which the townspeople will celebrate that night with a bonfire. At night, they bring stray wood, old furniture, and whatever else, atop which they set the segavecchia, an effigy of an old witch symbolizing the dying winter. Musicians play, and kids set off fireworks as the fire burns. Once it ceases and folks return home, a lawyer arrives in the town square on a bike. The lawyer tells the camera about the town’s history, going back to ancient times but recorded as early as 268 BCE. The townspeople are as irreverent as they are generous. Fart noises interrupt the lawyer, and he leaves.
Cut to picture day at school. A boy flirts with Aldina. Gigliozzi scares a girl with a frog. The class contains three pictures: Pope Pius XI, King Victor Emmanuel III, and Benito Mussolini. The teacher shows the students a stone hanging from a rope and asks the kids to identify it. Another teacher quizzes Titta on where Tiberius retired when giving up his command of the Roman empire. Like a preacher, one teacher talks of the reconciliation between the church and state through Jesus Christ. The kids goof off, sometimes in elaborate and choreographed ways, such as piping several rolled pieces of paper into a funnel that terminates at the teacher’s feet and urinates into it.
And so the film continues in its series of episodes. While the film has no overarching narrative, the episodes have overlapping characters—avatars for whatever bits of story the film tells—and the passing of the seasons.
Fellini’s dream-like recollection of his childhood blends the minutiae of daily life with a surreal, larger-than-life sense of possibility. The classroom scenes remind me of Zero for Conduct, but with a stronger sense of choreography. In many ways, the film is a set of lies — the events are tied to Fellini’s upbringing but intentionally misremembered. We are not getting Fellini’s actual childhood, but vignettes that chase the emotional associations Fellini had with it.
People often talk about Fellini’s movies as a circus, the way he coordinates large groups into freewheeling acts that somehow feel impromptu and well-rehearsed. Unbound from an overarching narrative, this film epitomizes that sentiment. The children are clowns, cutting into the sincerity of any moment, but so are the Fascist teachers and officials. The town nympho is a roaring lion daring the men to tame her. Titta’s father, Aurelio, is a bear who cannot tolerate deviation from his routine.
The lawyer returns at points to address the camera, like Bob Balaban in Moonrise Kingdom, except without any ulterior purpose beyond trying to put truth to the chaos onscreen and failing.
Of course, Fascism runs throughout the film. The Fascist leaders enter the city like Olympians, lauded by the public with hearty cheers. Their fixations on the rule of law take on absurdity as they demand Aurelio prove his loyalty by drinking castor oil as a toast to a Fascist victory.
Don't make us crack your skulls open to convince you that Fascism is for your protection and dignity!
If you can get on the movie’s wavelength, it’s pretty funny. Just remember: everyone is horny farting id.