In this carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Fellini satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of rituals, sensations and emotions. Adolescent desires, male fantasies, and political repartee are set to Nina Rota's music in this beautiful transfer of Amarcord.
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Federico Fellini's 1974 fantasy-memoir of life in his hometown during the Fascist era is basically the full palette of experience--sex, families, politics--with his surreal twist. As a general picture of the 1930s community carrying on rituals but with an element of government harshness in the air, the film is quite memorable (especially in scenes set around the town square). Less satisfying is Fellini's tighter focus on certain, forgettable individuals. The ironic title translates into, "I remember," but here memory is more a matter of loving vision than actuality. --Tom Keogh
