Director’s Cut

The greatest film directors all bleed a little of themselves into their work; it’s why the movies they make strike deeper chords with us as viewers. And although Federico Fellini’s Amarcord takes license with the facts, it’s one of the most touching films ever: Sweet, poignant, satirical, fantastic and surreal (or, more to the point, Fellini-esque — and all that’s implied by the invented description), it recalls life under Fascist rule in a 1930s Italian village, from the perspective of the adolescent boy Titta. But if it’s a larger-than-life rendition of Fellini’s own boyhood, so be it.

“I am always myself: however insatiable our curiosity might be, however much we might be able to increase it, a boundary is indispensable,” Fellini is quoted as having said in Costanzo Costantini’s book Fellini on Fellini. “Otherwise we risk going up in smoke, becoming a cloud. Each person works alone in his own little garden. If my endowments really are exhausted, then I’ll do a film about exhaustion, repeating myself all over again.”

Considered by some to be Fellini’s last great work, Amarcord screens today at 2 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter, 2510 East Colfax Avenue, as the January offering in the Tattered Cover Free Classic Film Series hosted by critic Howie Movshovitz. Admission is free, but tickets — available at the box office an hour before the show — are required; find information online at denverfilm.org or call 720-381-0813.

Sun., Jan. 5, 2 p.m., 2014