Italian Cinema for Americans

Amarcord was high on my list of Italian films to watch for two reasons. I love Fellini and the Academy loved this picture enough to give it an Oscar for best Foreign Film. Listen, I know that most Italians love talking about how much of an artist Fellini is, and I don’t really buy into that. Most of the time when I’m watching a movie, I just want to sit back and enjoy it - I’m not looking for a cerebral experience provoking existential introspection. Even the French understand that. I resisted this pretension until I saw a few of his films, at which point I realized that he is kind of an artist. He does a good job at making his movies provocative and introspective, without sacrificing entertainment value. This film is pieno così with ridiculous and obscene humor while still being sentimental and poignant. Even the title “Amarcord” is evocative, meaning “I remember” in his native dialect - Romagnolo.

Ostensibly, Amarcord is about the strange and colorful people of Rimini living out a year of their lives in the 1930s. It is also about the national and religious identity of the people, which comes into conflict with their natural behaviors and instincts. It is about growing up and also about the elements of Italian life which inhibit growing up. Remarkably, even as a novice Italian speaker who knows nearly nothing about the customs and history of the town of Rimini, I felt a sense of piquant nostalgia stirring.

Note - if you don’t know a lot about the customs, traditions, and people of Rimini, you will probably feel a little lost while watching. The plot is chronological, but does not follow one person in particular for the entire film. There are random bits of narration sprinkled in from several characters, one of whom lies constantly. There is really no exposition, which allows the perspective to shift and follow characters arbitrarily during the town’s seasonal and traditional events. This film leaves the viewer with the same sense as a dream - part sentimental, part ominous, part strange, and in this case driven by hilarious characters and discourse.