amarcord

i saw federico fellini’s “amarcord” (1973) for the first time in college at one of those student film nights, and have seen it 38 more times since. it’s probably my favorite movie next to woody allen’s “manhattan.”

i love it because it is about childhood memories, and the inevitable cycle of life that weaves them together. “amarcord” (“i remember” in italian) is basically a series of vignettes loosely based on fellini’s own childhood in rimini, a small town on the adriatic riviera. given fellini’s fondness for exaggeration and caricature, one would expect a twisted trip down memory lane, but it is actually one of fellini’s most sentimental movies (the other is la strada). as such, childhood memories take on a magical dimension where otherwise bizarre fellini touches - like a peacock touching down at the town fountain in a snow shower or townspeople assembling a small flotilla in the adriatic at midnight to wave at a passing american luxury liner – are now luminous fairy tales told with humor and affection.

my favorite scene in “amarcord” is when the kids snuck into the beautiful grand hotel on a melancholic autumn day. it was off-season and the hotel was empty. as the wind scattered leaves across the hotel’s magnificent courtyard, the kids imagined themselves at one of those fabulous adult parties, some as musicians in a phantom orchestra, and others, like titta, the main character, as suave lovers swaying with their imaginary companions, whispering, “where are you my love?”

many years after i first saw amarcord, i was in rimini with my friend patti, and raymond of urb magazine and kim and david of paper magazine. i was freelancing for both magazines at the time and was there for the next wave festival, a trade show patti was helping to promote showcasing new trends in youth culture.

patti is a rimini native and knows my weakness for “amarcord.” so in addition to treating us to food (still the best porcini gnocchi and prosciutto/melon i've ever had), the famous remini nightlife that she had help built in a previous life as a party promoter (like a party cruise down the adriatic at night on a yatch full of fresh seafood, the party at cocorico, a palatial club in the rimini hills/riccione fueled by an intoxicating blend of haute couture and pounding techno and featured, among other attention-grabbing decorative accents, a man sitting in a bare aquarium with hundreds of roaches), she also took me to the grand hotel.

it was smaller than i had imagined but also more charming. i bought a hotel postcard that is still hanging on my to-do board, and snatched a few of its matchbooks. as i looked out into the courtyard, i remember hearing the vague strains of the amarcord theme.

“amarcord”’ was scored by nino rota, a long-time fellini collaborator on many of the classics, like la dolce vita and 81/2. highly prolific, rota was also responsible for the memorable soundtracks of franco zeffirelli’s adaptation of “romeo and juliet” and francis ford coppola’s “the godfather.”

but “amarcord” is something different. in addition to the crystalline rota melodies, the original soundtrack also appropriated, sampling-like, snatches of “stormy weather” and “la cucoracha,” among others, and flirted anxiously close with both cheese and the sublime in the process. while i usually prefer the original recording, jaki bayrd’s version of the theme from the hal willner-produced compilation of jazz interpretation of rota’s soundtrack work strips away the pop culture context and gets down to the wistful, dreamy lullaby that is the core of the music.

a few weeks ago we had patti and marco over for dinner. they now run a vintage fashion business out of williamsburg in brooklyn, called appropriately enough, amarcord. they were accompanied by their gorgeous two year-old daughter lola, who i understand has had a very long day and arrived sleeping on her mother’s shoulder. we laid lola down on a blanket on the rug next to the large coffee table we use to entertain and i wondered what she’ll think when she wakes up later and finds herself in a strange place with her parents and another couple, who are kind of familiar looking, and the smell and sight of chinese food on the table in front of her. and what she’ll remember years from now.

Posted by cellpharmer at October 11, 2004 05:31 AM