Amarcord- Fellini, 1973

Perhaps because we watch so many nature documentaries, the structure of this narrative is a quite familiar season to season on planet earth - in this case, in 1930’s Rimini. However, it’s also the final year a schoolboy will spend in the quaint tourist town of his childhood before he presumably moves on to the much larger, and much colder big bad world - which truly did get bad as Europe entered the Second World War. Suspected traitors were not just made to drink castor oil like his dad- a punishment meant for children. 

 The film is drenched in nostalgia - though it’s equally clear that every social institution from family to state is dysfunctional. On the family level, the problem is that the boy’s father married up, so father and son are in different classes in a very class conscious society. They can’t understand each other, and dad, though bright and capable, does not have the education to articulate thoughts. All he can do is yell and slap.

 Is that why the boy chose to leave? Very little is shown of his inner life, other than the rowdiness and sexual frustration he shares with all the other boys. Is all that stuff supposed to entertain us? The promotional poster shown above seems to offer that.

 I’d like to think he’s fleeing this very patriarchal and misogynistic society - as firmly demonstrated at the beginning by the annual custom of burning the effigy of an old woman in the town square to mark the end of Winter. Then, near the end, all the boys pelt a single, attractive, adult woman, presumably because she’s available, but not to them. 

 But maybe he’s just leaving to advance a career. Or maybe to escape an abusive father. Like the fog that drifts in from the Adriatic, the narrative is  a misty cloud, here and there punctuated by strings of festive lights, or an annoying motorcyclist who races through the streets. As with many European films of that era, the primary message seems to be “Yes we’re dysfunctional, but at least we’re cute” - and I’m not buying it. Forget your fond memories of adolescent fantasies and man up! But the cloying theme music was so sweet - and so many of the scenes were charming - especially Gradisca’s wedding reception at the very end. She’s married a fascist policeman. Oh, well …. we will always love her anyway