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...

By Susan Froyd

January 2, 2014

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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

Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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