Allegro non troppo (1976)

An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he's come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music! When he is informed that some American named "Prisney" (or something) has ... See full summary »

Director:

Bruno Bozzetto

Writers:

Bruno Bozzetto, Guido Manuli,

Stars:

Marialuisa Giovannini, Néstor Garay, Maurizio Micheli

1 win & 2 nominations.

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

Storyline

An enthusiastic filmmaker thinks he's come up with a totally original idea: animation set to classical music! When he is informed that some American named "Prisney" (or something) has already done it, he decides to do his own version, using an orchestra comprising mostly old ladies and an animator he's kept locked in a dungeon. Several different classical pieces are animated, while the animator plots his escape.

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Plot Keywords:

animator | orchestra | classical music | slapstick | absurd humor | 

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Taglines:

(don't let the name fool you)

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

27 July 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Det våras med musik

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bruno Bozzetto Film, Ministero del Turismo e dello Spettacolo

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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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.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

L'orchestra rappresentata nel film non ha alcuna connessione con le orchestre sinfoniche che hanno realmente eseguito i brani musicali. [The orchestra represented in the film has no connection with the symphony orchestras who actually performed the music.]

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Connections

References Fantasia (1940)

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Soundtracks

"Concert in C-Major"
Written by Antonio Vivaldi

User Reviews

The Italian "Fantasia"

"Allegro non troppo" is the Italian answer to Disney's Fantasia. The movie is a parody of the well-known American counterpart, featuring a lousy orchestra (filmed in black and white), a slave animator (the Italian comedian Maurizio Nichetti) and an angry director. The live action part is filled with humor in the tradition of silent-movie comedy, relying mostly on visual gags and on the exceptional mimic of Nichetti. It is in stark contrast with Disney's pedantic and boring intermissions. But it's the animation that makes this movie a masterpiece. Every piece is animated with a different style, showing the best work of Italian animators.

Guido Manuli interprets Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun, presenting us the sad story of an ageing satyr that desperately tries to attract some nymphs. The tragi-comic character is a perfect match for the music's mood.

Ravel's Bolero is used for a piece on the origin of life on earth. In this stunning and imaginative sequence, life is born from a Coke bottle! Strange creatures crawl, swim, fly and metamorphose in dinosaurs, finally succumbing to the meanest creature of them all: man. The story of evolution from lowest forms to complex ones is seen as a violent tale of survival, as obsessive as Ravel music. The visuals are superb, with expressionistic colors and weird creature design reminiscent of Bosch.

Another powerful metaphor is the Slavonic dance by Dvorak, a satire of the sheep mentality of modern masses. The cartoony style is appropriate for the fast paced and goofy music.

One of the best pieces is probably the incredibly sad Valtzer Triste, about a kitty remembering his better days. This is technically the most impressive piece, with a mix of techniques used at the best to tell this tale through the cat's wide and moving eyes. Again, the music is powerfully brought to life, with such a precise timing and great emotional impact that you won't be able to hear this Vatzer without recalling the image of the poor animal.

On a brighter note is the Concerto in C Minor by Vivaldi, starring a cute bee that has to survive two lovers rolling over her lawn. There is a subtle message here, when we see the supposedly romantic love play of the couple transformed in a deadly menace... is love not so innocent after all?

Finally, Stravinsky's Firebird is the soundtrack for another satirical piece about an ideal world where Adam and Eve resist the snake temptation, and the snake himself has to suffer all the consequences of the original sin.

Allegro non troppo is to Fantasia what Van Gogh is to Wyland. Ten times more imaginative and mature, it manages to be technically as impressive as Disney's masterpiece. There is more "fantasia" in each of the single pieces of this movie than in all Fantasia. Bozzetto shows how imagination can achieve results that no amount of money can buy. This is animation at its best.

If you liked Fantasia, you'll love this movie.