Amarcord: horny for life

Until Amarcord, the adjective Fellinian used to be defined as "burlesque," "allegorical," and "imagistic."

Amarcord, who would be a corruption of mi recordo (I remember) in the dialect of Rimini, the director's hometown, introduced scenes inspired by Federico Fellini's adolescence which, he said, were NOT memories, at least conscious, palpable.

And those things that cannot be touched, like le manine at the beginning of the movie (small flakes that fall from the trees and dissolve in the hands of the people), are contents symbolized but not expressed, as if it were possible to capture on screen the dreams, jokes and Freudian slips of a psychoanalysis session.

Magnificent, this movie is perhaps one of the most exciting expressions of male perplexity toward women. In a magical enchantment that borders the dread, we see these strange beings that, at first glance, cause excitement and promises, convert into natural threats, explosive estrogen deposits.

Some say that under mass repression of the Catholic Church and of fascism at the time, all men regressed to a pubertal stage, which may explain the ambiguity of Titta (the boy who may be Fellini, portrayed by Bruno Zanin) who, in contact with the giant breasts of the owner of the tobacconist (Maria Antonietta Beluzzi), more resembles a choking baby than a happy lover.

What happened in that little town of the 1930s is that men expressed themselves through phallic symbols (the communist anthem in the church tower, the mural of flowers composing the face of the Duce, the peacock in the snow), challenging nature, whereas women WERE (are always) nature itself.

Gradisca (Magali Noël), the great object of desire of the ragazzi, was only given (literally) to the powerful. The prostitute Volpina (Josiane Tanzilli), the only unrestrained person in the village, was frightened and disgusted and walked alone on the beach.

The movie ends the way it started. During the marriage of Gradisca with a fascist officer, le manini return to announce the beginning of the new spring. Titta (Fellini?) has been gone for some time, they say. Without realizing the end of the ceremony, the blind accordionist continues to play the unforgettable music of Nino Rota.

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