Amarcord (1973)

 

A series of comedic and nostalgic vignettes set in a 1930s Italian coastal town. 

 

Basically a typically meandering stream of anecdotes and images without a plot Fellini manages to create a phantasm of small-town Italy, frivolous, ribald, nostalgic, tragic and humorous all at the same time. Very enjoyable.

 

A loving autobiographical tale of a bygone Italian time is both melancholic and satirical full of lively, exciting scenes, but always with a keen eye for realism and the surrealist aspects of life.

 

Halliwell**: "A bizarre, intriguing mixture of fact, fantasy and obscurity, generally pleasing to watch though hardly satisfying..."

Maltin***1/2: "...warm, poignant, bawdy episodes..." 

 

 

Roma (1972)

 

A portrait of Rome, described through an autobiographical reconstruction of Fellini's arrival into Rome during the Mussolini years.

A very personal, even autobiographical, always loving portrayal of the city wildly mixes documentary and fictional elements in a seemingly chaotic order, but thoroughly entertaining and amusing.

Halliwell**: "Delightful mix of documentary and autobiography, combining fantasy and reality, artifice  and actuality; it is a record of the director's love affair with Rome, recalled with nostalgic affection for the past and distress for its future."

Maltin***: "Famed director's impressionistic ode to Eternal City of his youth, his adolescence, and the present - complete with fantasy sequence and usual carnival-of-life point of view." 

 

New Stuff: La Dolce Vita

New Stuff: Amarcord

 

New Stuff: Roma

 

The Movies I Watched in April

Alien (1979)  8

 

Alien: Covenant  (2017)  7

 

Alien³ (1992)  6Alien: Resurrection (1997)  7

Aliens (1986)  7

 Amarcord (1973)  7

 Arrival (2016)  8

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)  8 

Detour (2013)  6

A Dog Called Money (2019)  7

Fear No More (1961)  6

Four American Composers (1983)  7

 

4D Man (1959)  6 

Frank Zappa 1969-1973: Freak Jazz, Movie Madness and Another Mothers (2014)  7

French Water (2021)  6 

The Godfather (1972)  10

The Godfather, Part II (1974)  10

The Godfather, Part III (1990)  7

The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)  5 

Hellraiser (1987)  7

Kronos (1957)  5

Majo no takkyûbin (1989)  7

Moonrise (1948)  7

 

Next of Kin (1982)  7 

One Night in Miami... (2020)  7 

One-Eyed Jacks (1961)  7

Polytechnique (2009)  7

 

Prometheus (2012)  7

Radioactive (2019)  5

The Serpent (2021)  6

Siu ngo gong woo: Dung Fong Bat Bai (1992)  6

Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)  6

Stranger Things, Season 1 (2016)  7

Time (2020)  7 

Valley of the Dolls (1967)  5 

Why Did You Kill Me? (2021)  7

Wild (2014)  6

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)  7 

Zappa (2020)  7

New Stuff: I Vitelloni

I got this classic Fellini movie for Ursula.

Amarcord (1973)

A year in the life of a small Italian coastal town in the nineteen-thirties, as is recalled by a director with a superstar's access to the resources of the Italian film industry and a piper's command over our imaginations.

Basically a typically meandering stream of anecdotes and images without a plot Fellini manages to create a phantasm of small-town Italy, frivolous, ribald, nostalgic, tragic and humorous all at the same time. Very enjoyable.

Giulietta degli spiriti (1965)

aka
Julia und die Geister West Germany
Juliet of the Spirits USA




Giuletta is skeptical about her husband's fidelity and seeks help and solace from the spirits that visit her.

Every so often Fellini would make a movie that drifts off into a kaleidoscope of his own very personal iconography and leave the spectator scratching his head what it's all about. This movie is a perfect example. We do get a lot to see on the way, though.

I vitelloni (1953)

One year in the lives of 5 young men form a circle of friends who have nothing special to do in an Italian village.

Great study of everyday life in Italy, an early Fellini masterpiece.

Il Bidone (1955)

Good early Fellini with great photography, swell acting and a very recognizable score by Nino Rota.