The film Amarcord - Essay Example

?Critical Essay on a Film Introduction Cinema, since the days of its initiation as a strong medium of entertainment and platform of conveying social message, has reached to an enriched realm. Creativity beyond the captivated compass of Hollywood gives a different perspective and opens a wider vista to the understanding of art and society more pertinently. To celebrate and appreciate this particular fact The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has started giving Academy Awards to the feature films since 1945. ‘Amarcord’ released in the year 1973 is an Italian film which can be distinctively encapsulated in the genre of comedy-drama. The film is directed, produced and written by Academy Award winner Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra. A seminal work in autobiography, the film Amarcord is a tale that narrates the event of coming-of-age with the combination of bawdy comedy. The film narrates a story casted with untamed characters that are shown residing in the fictional town bearing the name Borgo which is created based upon the actual hometown of Fellini which is Rimini of 1930s under the regime of Fascist Italy. The film stars Magali Noel, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio and Armando Brancia. This film won the Academy Awards for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ and at the same time, it received nominations for the Best Director and the Best Writing and the Original Screenplay categories. Synopsis of the Story: The Plot The film ‘Amarcord’ is a satire of the director Federico Fellini’s youth under the fascist regime in Italy and exhibits a carnivalesque picture of the provincial Italy where the director tries to turn the menial chores of life into a circus constructed with social rituals, desires of the adolescent period, fantasies in male and subterfuge subjected to politics all set within the span of a year against the backdrop of a coastal town reminiscing the period of nineteen thirties. The film presents Titta’s sentimental educational journey throughout the year bearing the emblem of Italy’s “lapse of conscience”. Fellini draws upon Mussolini’s ridiculous postures along with those of the Catholic Church that captivated the adolescence of the Italian youth for the perpetual frame of time. Fellini does this by mocking himself and the villagers of his village with the allegorical presentation of the comic scenes that bears the actual connotation of their incapability to accept and adopt moral responsibility and subsequently they outgrow their sexual fantasies. The Elements of Style The aesthetic perspective of the film is completely attuned with the time and setting that the film projects. The colourful setting of a coastal village is quite convincing. The use of bright colours, loud make-ups and appropriate props are deliberately incorporated to project the merry life of a coastal town during summers. The town is reminiscent of Rimini, but the vibrant colours and bright set-up evoke a feeling of larger-than-life on the silver screen. Music plays a very important role in evoking the true mood of the film. The nostalgic score by Nino Rota and Carlo Savina drives away the audience to the by-gone days and yet the music has the punch and the signature of the nineteen seventies which makes it acceptable with the proper blend of historical elements supportive to the demand of the narrative and the plot of the film. Owing to the demand of the plot, there is more than one story that runs parallel within the bigger framework of the film. To synchronise these stories or sub-plots within the single frame is a challenging job and skilful editing of these parallel scenes and plots into a wider perspective would not have been achieved in a better way than Ruggero Mastroianni. The camera work of Fellini and Giuseppe Rotunno is excellent and the neat shots of this film in both the close and distant angels are always commendable. The projection of the sexual fantasies and coming back to the original world need a frequent to and fro camera movement which was accomplished superbly through extra-ordinary camera work and neat and skilful editing and cinematography. The portrait of the film ‘Amarcord’ bears the one-liner which narrates: “The Fantastic World of Fellini” and to reincarnate it the contribution of all the aesthetic elements have acted so well that those have helped to reach the film into a realm really larger than life. The Theme of the Film The film Amarcord is a satire that projects the anarchy under the regime of fascist Italy. The castigation of the sexual and adolescent fantasy by the Catholic Church under who’s so called holy spell Fellini has passed his youth has been scathingly attacked in the film. To reincarnate the days of nineteen thirties with a signatory blend of seventies’ film trends was not an easy task for the creative team of the film, Amarcord. The proper blend to evoke the elements that will make a period film acceptable in the seventies by not destroying the historical perspective of the film at all is the most appreciable part of the film. Also the purpose of the film is satirical and the selection of the topic to meet the purpose and its proper presentation was the greatest challenge which was accomplished superbly. The Value of the Film The film Amarcord is universal and eternal in its appeal. At a satirical plane it deals with the subverted sexual and adolescent fantasies in human being who is very common and evident. But unfortunately these are often treated as an element for social taboo which makes it suppressed in the emotional plane of man. Fellini tried to connect with the very commonplace idea that can be related to mankind from any community irrespective of their class, age or society. The perspective or the backdrop of the film might be much customized to the representation of the fascist Italy but the castigation of the sexual fantasies, very common in mankind by myriad societies across the globe, relates the film to a wider microcosm making it timeless and universal in its appeal. Outside Critical Opinions Amarcord has widely received critical acclamation and success across the globe. Critic Giovanni Grazzini in the Italian daily named Corriere della Sera reviewed that the film Amarcord and his maker as “an artist at his peak”. It referred the director as whose “autobiographical content shows greater insight into historical fact and the reality of a generation” (Fava & Vigano, “The Films of Federico Fellini”). Conclusion Amarcord is a film that is beyond being a mere entertaining film with huge commercial success and prestigious awards including Oscars, a social document that relates to the very mundane and commonplace fantasies, imagination and ideas of ordinary people which provides the critiques the desperation to think about life at a large scale. Bibliography Bondanella, Peter. “Amarcord: The Fascism Within Us”. Federico Fellini: Essays in Criticism, Page – 20& 21 Fava & Vigano, The Films of Federico Fellini, Citadel Press. Page – 157 Festival De Cannes, “Amarcord” No Date. Selections. June 20, 2011. Read More