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| Federico Fellini | 1973 |
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 Fascism Italy Torture  |
Amarcord begins with a shot of a clothesline on a windy day. A woman walks down the back steps from the house, waves her hand in the air, and yells "puffballs!". A man's voice answers from inside the house and explains to us that puffballs mean cold weather is nearly gone. Cut to many children, as they run through the streets, singing about puffballs and planning trips to the seashore. A man catches one of the little fluffy wonders, turns to face the camera and tells us that puffballs mean Spring has come. Apparently, the Germans arrived with the puffballs as well.
Cut to a barber shop where Fliorella {Fiorella Magalotti} stops by to pick up her sister Gradisca {Magali Noel} and someone off camera loudly admires her physique. Gradisca responds with a seductive, little wriggle. Everyone's going to the big bonfire in the square tonight and the barber will even be playing his flute.
At the bonfire we meet many strange people: Volpina {Josiane Tanzilli}, the town slut, who's apparently feeling quite amorous this evening, a blind man, many children, their parents, Gradisca's "society girl" friends and so on. While a brass band plays, they bring out "the old witch"; a stuffed doll that's apparently symbolic of Winter and will be playing the starring role in our bonfire.
As the stragglers are wandering home after the fire, A Mister Lawyer {Luigi Rossi} tells us a bit about the town's history. Cut to several schoolkids horsing around while they get into place for their class picture then to a few classes which feature much clowning about and the antics of several strange professors. Down at the beach, Volpina flirts with an entire construction crew.
At dinner, Aurelio {Armando Brancia} throws a tantrum and attempts to kill his son, Titta {Bruno Zanin}, because he urinated over the railing at the theater on the previous evening and soaked some poor man's hat. We get to watch a lovely juggling exhibition as well and to listen in while Grandpa {Giuseppe Ianigro} talks dirty and harasses Gina {Carla Mora}. Miranda {Pupella Maggio}, of course, refuses to eat and threatens to kill the family.
That night we all watch while the local madame brings in a new cartload of hookers. At confession, Titta tells us all about all of the women that live in town and explains his infatuation with Gradisca {Ninola; Gradisca's a nickname she earned by spending a night with a prince}. When the fascists comes to town, Miranda locks Aurelio in the yard so he can't go to the meeting; "If I want you killed I'll do it myself". That night the fascists drag him down to the station to torture him for a while anyway.
The movie goes on to tell us the story of the doin's in small town Italy back when it was run by the fascists and to do it in something resembling Fellini's trademark style. This is a very weird and intimate look into the lives of many very strange characters; most of which centers around the members of the Biondi family. Uncle Teo {Ciccio Ingrassia} has got to be one of the flakiest characters to ever inhabit a movie and many of the other Biondis, as well as about half of the town, are playing with considerably less than a full deck.
Amarcord is a lot lighter than most of Fellini's work and spends a large percentage of its time with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. It's a good, solid comedy that's built from a series of short, somewhat related, humorous vignettes, that all work together to form a really nifty, small town, portrait. The movie should appeal to most everyone of any age and doesn't come off as artsy or pretentious in the least. It's nicely filmed, pleasantly strange, incorporates a lot of experimentation and comes complete with performances that are pretty nearly perfect. Amarcord won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for Directing and Writing. If you're looking for an introduction to Fellini, this would be a good one.
