Amarcord (1973)

Film: Amarcord

Director: Federico Fellini

Country: Italy

Released: December 1973

Runtime: 124 minutes

Genre: Surrealism

Studio: FC Produzioni / PECF

Influenced: Terry Gilliam, Lina Wertmüller, Emir Kusturica, Giuseppe Tornatore, Wes Anderson

Aside from Fellini's two certified 60s classics – La Dolce Vita and 8½ – critics often favour his mid-50s output, from I Vitelloni (1953) and La Strada (1954) to Le Notti di Cabiria (1957), but for me nothing beats the heady and exuberant mix of nostalgia, comedy and irreverence that characterises Fellini's early 70s films, Roma (1972) and Amarcord. The latter is both a semi-autobiographical and a universal tale of adolescence and maturity, and a deeply nostalgic yearning for the past, albeit filtered through a layer of absurd comedy and surrealism that was one of Fellini's trademarks. "Amarcord", or "a m'arcôrd", is a local dialect term in Rimini that translates as "I remember". Fellini conceptualised Amarcord as a tribute to his own childhood in the 1930s in Rimini. 

In some ways, it can be seen as a sequel to I Vitelloni, which also explores themes of youth, carnivalesque debauchery and small-town life. With Amarcord, Fellini's intention was not to create a factual memoir but a dreamlike reflection on his past, the town's eccentric characters and the political climate of Fascist Italy. We observe life through the eyes of Titta, a young teenage boy (a stand-in for a young Fellini), and his interactions with family, friends and various townsfolk, including the priests. Fellini's approach to Catholicism is deeply ambivalent – while the church is portrayed as a flawed institution, its rituals and symbols provide a sense of community and continuity. Fellini, raised in a Catholic environment himself, often uses Catholic imagery in his films in a way that suggests both reverence and irreverence.

Amarcord unfolds as a series of vignettes that do not follow a strict plot but are held together by the rhythm of the changing seasons and the sense of passing time, right from the opening scene of fluffy poplar seeds floating on the wind, signalling the coming of spring. We see the arrival of the SS Rex, a gigantic ocean liner that symbolises Italy's Fascist aspirations, and a surreal family dinner and a Fascist parade, highlighting respectively the absurdity of family life and political indoctrination. Throughout the film, Fellini is so accomplished in his ability to blend reality, memory and fantasy seamlessly, and the narrative is marked by the constant juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy, the sacred and the profane, the political and the personal, giving the film its complex and rich texture.

The scenes involving Gradisca (Magali Noël), the town's hairdresser and red-haired beauty, evoke adolescent longing, while Titta's encounter with the voluptuous tobacconist signifies his sexual awakening. Fellini did not shy away from the grotesque or the absurd, often to comedic or poignant effect, and his use of non-professional actors (a nod to his neorealist roots) and his innovative approach to sound design, blending dialogue, sound effects and Nino Rota's haunting score, are also key features of his distinctive style in Amarcord. The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974, cementing Fellini's status as a global movie icon, and the film's unique mix of comedy, drama and social commentary, along with its vivid, eccentric characters, have contributed to its enduring popularity.