Amarcord (1973)

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

Director:

Federico Fellini

Writers:

Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra (screenplay),

Stars:

Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia, Magali Noël

Won 1 Oscar. Another 16 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pupella Maggio	...	Miranda Biondi, Titta's Mother
Armando Brancia	...	Aurelio Biondi, Titta's Father
Magali Noël	...	Gradisca, The hairdresser (as Magali' Noel)
Ciccio Ingrassia	...	Teo - the mad uncle
Nando Orfei	...	Patacca, Titta's Uncle
Luigi Rossi	...	Lawyer
Bruno Zanin	...	Titta Biondi
Gianfilippo Carcano	...	Don Baravelli
Josiane Tanzilli	...	Volpina, prostitute
Maria Antonietta Beluzzi	...	Tobacconist
Giuseppe Ianigro	...	Titta's Grandfather
Ferruccio Brembilla	...	Fascist Leader
Antonino Faà di Bruno	...	Count Lovignano (as Antonino Faa' Di Bruno)
Mauro Misul	...	Philosophy Teacher
Ferdinando Villella	...	Fighetta, Greek Teacher

Storyline

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. Federico Fellini's film combines the free form and make-believe splendor with the comic, bittersweet feeling for character and narrative we remember from some of his best films of the 1950s. The town in the film is based on Rimini, where Mr. Fellini grew up. Yet there is now something magical, larger-than-life about the town, its citizens and many of the things that happen to them.

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Plot Keywords:

1930s | memory | surrealism | movie theatre | actor playing multiple roles | 

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Taglines:

The Fantastic World of Fellini!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian Greek, Ancient (to 1453)

Release Date:

19 September 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Remember

Filming Locations:

Anzio, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

F.C. Produzioni, PECF

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first movie ever released on home video in the "letterbox" format (on an RCA SelectaVision CED videodisc, January, 1984), preceding the letterbox laserdisc release of Woody Allen's Manhattan by eight months.

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Goofs

The banners promoting the Mille Miglia indicate that it was the seventh event (VII). However, the seventh running of the event was in 1933, and Beau Geste was not released until 1939. The Mille Miglia was not held in 1939.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Woman: The puffballs.
Husband: When the puffballs come, cold winter's almost gone.

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Connections

Featured in Jasminum (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Stormy Weather"
(uncredited)
Written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
This tune is heard several times during the film.

User Reviews

Rimini Remembered: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring

Federico Fellini's "Amardord" is a series of sketches about his youth in a seaside town Rimini in the 1930s. In this regard it reminds another favorite film of mine, "Fellini's Roma". After repeat viewing, I can understand why many viewers may not like Fellini, especially his so called "later films" –"Amarcord" may seem too crowded, too loud, too vulgar, too bawdy, and too self-indulgent. It is all true, it is. But so is life – loud but tender, vulgar but touching, self-indulgent but full of humor, love and compassion to the film's eccentric characters. It's been said a lot about memorable scenes and images in "Amarcord": yes, the famous peacock that spreads its plumage on the snow, a magnificent ocean liner that is been greeted by the townspeople, a local tobacconist – a woman of such size and proportions that it could be simply dangerous for the teenage boys to try and make their dreams about her come true. I love "Amarcord" – always have – perhaps, Fellini played all the right notes for me or more likely, Nino Rota wrote his best musical score for the film which could be the best score ever. My favorite image in the film – Gradisca's (local beautician) walk accompanied by Rota's music. What is it in the way Italian women walk, the way their hips sway? Monica Belucci in "Malena", Sofia Lauren in "Marriage Italian Style"? And Magali Noël as object of every man's in Rimini desire – Gradisca ("Help Yourself").

Wonderful film – by the power of his magic, by the light of his memory, the great master saved the town where he was young and happy. We can visit it as often as we'd like and it won't go away and disappear - Fellini's Rimini is captured forever.

9.5/10