Amarcord - Federico Fellini (1973)

Let's understand from the outset: the name of this production is derived from the Italian phrase "Mi ricordo" (meaning "I remember") pronounced in the Rimini dialect, where the sentence sounds like "A m'arcord"...

We take note of Fellini's statement that the film is not autobiographical, but we don't take it seriously due to the confession that came towards the end of his career: "I'm a Born Liar" (which also resulted in a commemorative film: "Je suis un grand menteur - Damian Pettigrew - 2002"). Given the undeniable truth that whatever Fellini said or did, it was somehow autobiographical, we explain the contradiction through the total externalization of a composition that is so deep and complex, that it flows uncontrollably, like a disease that the author suffered unknowingly.

We gather from the poster that the film is announced as "memorialistic", and then we understand from the first few minutes of the film that it is about isolated events, scattered characters, and peculiar traditions and customs of an Italian coastal town, presented from a distance and impartially. It is a fresco, or perhaps an evocation of a cyclical journey.

The story begins with the fluff of poplar trees in the spring of 1930 and ends symmetrically with the fluff of poplar trees in the spring of the following year, passing successively through daily events mixed with rich symbolism and imagery of fabulous quality.

In my opinion, "Amarcord" is one of the landmark films of cinema and represents such an important moment that watching it seems simply obligatory even for the most seasoned cinephile. It is the pinnacle of Fellini's creativity and his last major production that is unencumbered, as all his other monumental contributions like "La Strada," "Nights of Cabiria," "La Dolce Vita," "8 1/2," "Juliet of the Spirits," "Il Bidone," "Roma," and "Satyricon" function differently. Go see it. It is a sequence of frames suitable for any mood and disposition, and you also receive an impressive lesson about the seventh art...

Because it is a great loss to go to luxurious theaters for screenings filled with pretensions, from which too many escapes due to a lack of minimal specialized education.

"Amarcord" is a film directed by Federico Fellini that can be seen as a dictionary accessible and formulated in simple terms for anyone interested in cinema. It is an easy-to-follow and fascinating film that has remained relevant even after more than 40 years since its first screening. The film contains images, sequences, and quotes that have influenced numerous other productions that came afterward.

The narrative of the film alternates between nostalgia and joy and is saturated with subjectively evaluated portraits through exaggerated caricatures of dominant characters while maintaining the boisterous, declamatory, and spectacular spirit of the inhabitants of the Italian peninsula in the most authentic neorealist style. The city itself becomes a character in the film, and the occasional narrators who tell us about it are a stroke of genius that personalizes the film's approach and ensures its uniqueness.

Like any hero, the city has its own zone of mystery and legend, forbidden (due to opulence) to its fellow citizens, called the Grand Hotel. It also has an erotic fantasy: Gradisca (similar to Carla from "8 1/2"), is treated here as a symbol of hope, pride, and a great achievement of the town. Gradisca is a true triumph of flesh, voluptuousness, and sexuality, and her failure in the final wedding scene has a lyrical connotation: the bride's bouquet thrown over her shoulder remains uncaught, thus indicating that it will not have a continuation.

There are so many symbols, so much love and understanding for the people and places in the plot that everything flows naturally and seamlessly, interrupted only a few times by Fellini's abrupt insertion of out-of-context moments of unintentional beauty, such as a peacock displaying its colorful palette in the midst of snowfall, the lively and absurd celebration of the passage of the ocean liner Rex, the miraculous visit of the sultan with his 30 wives, or the story of a prince who longed for an adventure, and so on.