Amarcord

19731973
RR
2h 3min

7.9/10

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

7.9/10

42K

Director
- Federico Fellini
Writers
- Federico Fellini(story)
- Tonino Guerra(story)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Won 1 Oscar
- 20 wins & 8 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:24

Amarcord: The Criterion Collection

Bruno Lenzi, Bruno Scagnetti, Alvaro Vitali, Francesco Vona, and Bruno Zanin in Amarcord (1973)

Maria Antonietta Beluzzi and Bruno Zanin in Amarcord (1973)

Armando Brancia, Giuseppe Ianigro, Ciccio Ingrassia, Pupella Maggio, and Bruno Zanin in Amarcord (1973)

Magali Noël and Bruno Zanin in Amarcord (1973)

One year in a small northern Italian coastal town in the late 1930s is presented. The slightly off-kilter cast of characters are affected by time and location, the social mores dictated largely by Catholicism, and the national fervor surrounding Il Duce aka Benito Mussolini and Fascism. The stories loosely center on mid-teen Titta and his household, including his adolescent brother, his ever-supportive mother who is always defending him against his father, his freeloading maternal Uncle Lallo, and his paternal grandfather who slyly has eyes and hands for the household maid. Other townsfolk include: town beauty Gradisca, who can probably have any man she wants but generally has none as most think she out of their league; Volpina, the prostitute; Giudizio, the historian; a blind accordionist; and an extremely buxom tobacconist. The several vignettes presented include: the town bonfire in celebration of spring; life at Titta's school with his classmates and teachers; Titta's father Aurelio at his beachfront construction worksite and his and his workmates' encounter with Volpina; Titta's confessions to the priest about his burgeoning sexuality; Aurelio being questioned by authorities about his anti-Fascist leanings; a fantasy sequence at the luxurious Grand Hotel; a family outing with Aurelio's institutionalized brother Teo; many townsfolk embarking on a sail to witness a marine event passing by their town; an annual car race; Titta's fantasy encounter with the tobacconist after closing hours coming true; events surrounding the big snowfall that year, including a family tragedy; and an event centering on Gradisca and her future. —Huggo

group of friends satire men masturbate together breasts staring at a woman's cleavage 103 more

Taglines
- The Fantastic World of Fellini!
Genres
- Comedy
- Drama
Certificate
- R
Parents guide

Trivia
The title is the phonetic translation of the words "Mi ricordo" (I remember) as spelled in the dialect of Rimini, the town in which the director Federico Fellini was born, and where the film is set. The correct spelling should be "A m'arcord".

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 (1939) was not released until 1939. The Mille Miglia was not held in 1939.

Quotes
[repeated line]
Teo, Titta's Uncle: I want a woman!

Alternate versions
An exclusive digital restoration of the film was done by Criterion in 1995 for their laserdisc. The disc contains a before-and-after demonstration of the restoration process and has the option of either the original Italian soundtrack or the English-dubbed soundtrack.

Connections
Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: La monnaie de l'absolu (1999)

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

Top review

When I attended the premiere, I felt this was the best film ever made.

When "Amarcord" had it's American premier at the Plaza Theatre on East 58th Street in New York, I was working as the manager of The Paris Theatre, also on 58th Street, just 2 blocks west, behind Bergdorf's and facing the front of the Plaza Hotel.

Both theatres were part of the Cinema-5 circuit of first-run theatres in Manhattan. I often took advantage of the pass privileges that theatres extend to one another and always attended every other theatre in the city to sample their fare.

As I often worked as 'relief' manager of The Plaza, I was well known to the the crew there and had easy access to that theatre at all times. When I first sat through "Amarcord" during it's opening, I realized that I had just seen "THE Finest Film Ever Made". When I told this to others, I was often scoffed at. I was told that the 'Finest Film' hadn't been made yet. That was until the scoffers saw the film for themselves. Every friend I brought to The Plaza to see "Amarcord" was as enchanted with the film as I was.

During it's opening run at the Plaza Theatre in 1974, I must have seen the film at least 50 times. I next saw "Amarcord" at an art house in another city in 1980. Yes, it was still the best film. In the 6 years since it's USA premier I can't say I saw any film better than "Amarcord."

Then, when it was at long last released on videotape in the 1990's, I purchased the tape. When I watched the tape I wept. Yes, it was STILL the finest film ever made. I DO think the world of "Nights of Cabiria", "La Strada", "La Dolce Vita" and "8 1/2". But "Amarcord" is more than just Fellini's greatest work. It is greater than ANY other film, made by any other person or group of persons. I know now, 27 years after I first saw this film, that I will certainly say, 27 years in the future: This is THE film that no film-maker can top.

..In my humble opinion, of course....

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