Amarcord
Fellini's Amarcord is a film I had not seen in twenty-five years; suddenly, though, I had the urge to watch it again, and many other Fellini films I hadn't seen in years as well. Perhaps I'll spend a month or two getting reacquainted with masterpieces such as La Dolce Vita, 8 and 1/2, Satyricon (my personal favorite), La Strada, and City of Women. Amarcord may not trump them all, but it is quite a slice of life: an image of a historical time and place, the little circle of existence as the viewer peers deep into it giving them a glimpse of other little circles. It is a testament to the power of humans to celebrate and dream, to fantasize escape in the midst of struggle and turmoil. Like the fireworks set off during the opening festival in the little Italian village at the beginning, these pops and bangs of human beings enact their weird, seemingly absurd roles, trapped in their dream of who they are, and dreaming all the while of Who They Wish to Be.
