Allegro non troppo (1976)

Director:

Bruno Bozzetto

Writers:

Bruno Bozzetto (writer)
Guido Manuli (writer)

Release Date:

27 July 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Music

Plot:

An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he's come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music...

Plot Keywords:

Animator | Orchestra | Classical Music | Dream Like | Spoof

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Marialuisa Giovannini	...	The Cleaning Girl
Néstor Garay	...	The Orchestra Master
Maurizio Micheli	...	The Presenter
Maurizio Nichetti	...	The Animator
Mirella Falco	...	Non-Exercising Orchestra Member
Osvaldo Salvi	...	Man in gorilla costume
Jolanda Cappi	...	Fallen Orchestra Member
Franca Mantelli	...	Dancing Orchestra Member

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min | USA:75 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Italy:T | Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG

Company:

Bozzetto Film

Trivia:

During the live action scenes surrounding the animated musical sequences, Signor Rossi, the most famous figure created by Bruno Bozzetto, has a cameo appearance.

Goofs:

Continuity: Since this film is a parody AND a cartoon, it's arguable whether anything can be legitimately considered a goof. However, at the end of the film, when the director sends Franceschini down to the archives, each time he pulls a finale off the pile the same animation is reused all three times. The effect is that Franceschini takes the same stage each time, only to have it reappear when he goes back for the next.

Quotes:

[last lines]
The Orchestra Master: We're unemployed, then.
The Presenter: Unemployed...until the next movie. I've already got an idea. A brand-new idea. We could do a love story.
The Orchestra Master: A love story?
The Presenter: But not the usual kind about men and women. Lots of men and lots of women.
The Orchestra Master: Wife-swapping?
The Presenter: No, not that same old stuff. Something different. I like asymmetry. Seven men and one woman.
The Orchestra Master: That'll cost a lot.
The Presenter: No, not at all. We'll get little tiny men and make the woman real tall. It'll be fantastic!
The Orchestra Master: Sounds scary.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Braindead (1992)

Soundtrack:

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

A light-hearted musical smorgasbord

If you are feeling at all depressed or bored with psychological thrillers, this is just the film to brighten up your dark moments. It's not hilarious, it won't have you rolling about in hysterical laughter, but it will put a smile on your face and you may even manage a chortle or two. It's pure fantasy, the stuff that dreams are made of....Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius whose music forms the basis of this film would probably be amused at how their music has been interpreted.

While the black and white scenes of the compere, the conductor, the orchestra and the cartoonist are amusing enough, they seem a bit forced in their attempt at humour (the cartoonist is no Charlie Chaplin) and the transition from black and white to colour is never very smooth. Even the sound level is not constant.

Wherever did they get the old ladies to represent the orchestra? They looked as if they stepped straight out of a Fellini film. In a couple of farcical scenes one old girl while blowing a fanfare on her trumpet ran out of breath and fell over backwards. Another was knocked off the stage when she was struck by a cork propelled from an exploding bottle of champagne.

While the film lacks the technical quality of Disney's Fantasia, it still has some amusing and original ideas. To the sound of Ravel's Bolero, we see some sludge at the bottom of a bottle give way to primitive life and then follows in rapid succession the origin of the various species of life on earth. Even Darwin would have been fascinated by this interpretation of his theory of evolution.

Allegro Non Troppo is far more sexual than any of Disney's work. The faun is depicted as a lecherous old man, an interpretation never seen before in any of the great ballets. There are heart-tugging moments too, particularly to the beautiful music of Sibelius, when we see a starved cat searching for food, warmth and company amongst the ruins of a home.

When one ponders over the number of hours the artists worked on this film, one can only admire their competence and artistry. See it at your first opportunity.