Armando Brancia, Ciccio Ingrassia, Magali Noël

A carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Federico Fellini's most personal film satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals, adolescent desir...( read more  read more... )es, male fantasies, and political subterfuge, all set to Nina Rota's gorgeous, nostalgia-tinged score.

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91% liked it

4,072 ratings

Critics

97% liked it

36 critics

R, 2 hrs. 3 min.

Directed by: Federico Fellini

Release Date: January 1, 1974

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DVD Release Date: April 3, 1998

Stats: 728 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (728)


  • June 4, 2009
    Almost every frame of Fellini's film is a painting that could stand on its own. His command of lighting is amazing. All of this even with the cheeky subject matter...
  • March 21, 2009
    "Amarcord" is hosted by a character named The Lawyer (Luigi Rossi), who traces the origins of the town of Romagna back to 268 B.C.. The film centers around the town, based on Rimini, where Fellini grew up, and the variety of characters within.

    The Biondi family is the anchor po...( read more)int for the audience - the eyes in which we can see the town and it's colorful characters. The head of the household is Aurelio (Armando Brancia), an old grouch who eventually is held captive by the police due to his anti-Fascist remarks. His wife is Miranda (Puppela Maggio), and together they have a child, intended to be Fellini himself, called Titta (Bruno Zanin). They live with Titta's grandfather (Giuseppe Lanigro), a raunchy old man who vividly recalls his sexual encounters by way of a pumping fist. Later on, we meet the crazy uncle (Ciccio Ingrassia), who finds himself climbing a tree and shouting that he wants a woman. He is rescued by a midget nun. Yes, a midget nun.

    The fascist politics of the film are explored through it's effects on the town's citizens. It's not a remarkably political movie, however it's a sort of cautionary tale about the simple-minded buffoonery that fascism could cause. Simple pleasures would run rampant over intellectual stimulation, like the one-track mind of Titta - from masturbating in a car with his friends, to trying to hoist up a busty tobacconist (Maria Antonietta Beluzzi), even though he probably weighs less than one of her breasts. Even Aurelio, who seems like a tragic hero (being forced to drink oil after his anti-Fascist protests), is treated as nothing more than a buffoon.

    The least you can say about "Amarcord" is that it is truly alive. The townspeople are rich in numbers, however each of them is such a memorable eccentric that we easily distinguish between them. The anecdotal structure of the film allows for sentimental nostalgia presented in complete unrestrained freedom. It's a movie that completely exploits the color palette - bursting at the seams with reds and yellows, or the magnificent blues of a peacock amongst the snow.

    While I loved the craftsmanship of "Amarcord", and had a few laughs here and there, I was mildly disappointed with the film as a whole. It's very loose in structure and, as I said, anecdotal - and while that's fine, I felt unphased by the ending. Most of the jokes work and the absurdities are fairly memorable, however by the end of the film I wasn't invested in anything. Perhaps it's a film i'll appreciate more on successive viewings, but here I was largely entertained but, perhaps due to my expectations, disappointed.
  • October 16, 2008
    Seminal comedy of 30s life in a small Italian town. As a Brit the caricatures remind me of the "Carry On" series, "Carry on Mussolini" perhaps, but I can see why the Mediterranean types like it so much. "Voglio una donnaaaa!"
  • September 22, 2008
    Il s'était produit au milieu du film comme une parenthèse d'absolu, d'infini et de sublime, de ces instants que l'on voudrait éternels alors même qu'ils sont impalpables.
  • August 14, 2007
    Fellini re visits his home town and the peculiar people living there. a magical and hilarious stay, an everlasting "festa per la dolce vita"
  • October 27, 2009
    Perhaps Fellini's most personal film, and one of my favorites.
  • September 11, 2009
    Fellini's personal jewel. An ultimate requiem of the soul and a nostalgic look at the human condition, this film is an extraordinary achievement of Italian classic filmmaking.

    93/100
  • July 24, 2009
    Bueno, es que esta verdaderamente cabrón que haya una pelicula de Fellini que no me guste, pero Amarcord es genial, aunque realmente no cuente una historia sino una sucesión de eventos donde los habitantes del pueblo son retratados con ese toque tan peculiar de Federico de darle...( read more) corazón a un puñado de seres con tan sólo mostrarlos un par de segundos. Aunque va entre lo chistoso y lo triste, lo nostálgico y lo festivo, lo crítico y lo descriptivo, la película es mucho más colorida que las anteriores que he visto de él (La dolce vita y 8 1/2) no sólo por el evidente hecho de que a diferencia de ellas esta es a colores sino en la alegría de la trama y la banalidad del tratamiento.
  • July 8, 2009
    A celebration of Fascist Italy, bodily functions and life in general. Maybe not a celebration, but. . .just read the plot summary at the top of the page, I may be lazy but I'm not lazy enough to include the entire premise in the middle of a review.
  • May 26, 2009
    Fellini's classic. What else can I say?

Critic Reviews


March 27, 2009
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Federico Fellini's films beg to be seen on a movie screen. Their panoramic, overstuffed frames and larger-than-life characters overflow the boundaries of home theater; their exuberant, generous humor ... full review

January 15, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A totally accessible film. It deals directly, hilariously, and sometimes poignantly with the good people of this small town. full review

View more Amarcord reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • nandeeshjain
    July 28, 2008
    this what cinema is about
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    March 1, 2007
    This movie puts you into a world like no other. It's one of the few films you don't want to end.
  • panchof28
    September 24, 2006
    amazing film.. have to see it

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Amarcord Trivia


  • Fellini film with the Italian title that means "I remember"?  Answer »
  • What director links the movies "Amarcord", "The Nights of Cabiria", "La Dolce Vita", and "8½"?  Answer »
  • Woody Allen's "Radio Days" was partly inspired by which Fellini film?  Answer »
  • Which movie won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974?  Answer »

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