THE CLOWNS was originally made for Italy's RAI-TV. In this captivating movie director Federico Fellini, who also appears on screen as himself, portrays man's inborn fascination with the circus arena. The boy who escapes from his bedroom at night to sneak into the provincial circus is a figure of Fellini himself as a boy. Fellini spends time exploring some of Europe's great circuses and their best acts while unfolding once again his recurring theme of life itself as a quasi-liturgical circus-procession. All of Fellini's themes are here in pure distillation. THE CLOWNS is a documentary, a reminiscence, and poetry all at once. In the first part Fellini relates a history of the world of clowns and their unique brand of frolic-through tears. We see the austere Pierrot and his servant clown Auguste, the Fratellini family, the film clown Pierre Etaix, and are treated to Anita Ekberg buying a tiger at an Italian circus and a score of other outstanding episodes. The finale, with Fellini in view again directing the proceedings, like Guido in "8 1/2", is a melancholy clown funeral. Composer Nino Rota provides another appealing score as with so many Fellini films. This is a very accessible and delightful movie and stands beside Cecil B.DeMille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH as among the best in the genre.
