Of Federico Fellini’s memory films, “I Vitelloni” (1955), with its splendidly evoked hope of escape from a small town, is the one I hold fondest, but there are bursts of mad, boisterous wit and energy in the poetic, affectionate “Amarcord” (I remember, 1973) to treasure. Set in the seaside town of Rimini in the 1930s, Fellini combines nostalgia with glee, making his adolescence something fanciful but also grounded in human urges. The delights range from the vision of a peacock competing with fresh, faux snowfall to the grandfather who gaily farts before breakfast by manhandling a chair; a horny teen boy’s near-suffocation by an older woman’s voluminous bosom; to and the simple uncle who climbs up into a tree, baying, “I want a woman!” and can only be saved by a dwarf nun finagling a ladder. Nino Rota’s score can keep you awake at night if it sticks in your memory. 127m. Restored 35mm print. (Ray Pride)
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