The Clowns

As a great admirer of Federico Fellini, I was really taken with I Clowns. It is not one of Fellini's finest like La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Amarcord, Nights in Cabiria and La Strada, but has much to recommend it. I did feel at times that some of the dialogue collided into another bit of dialogue a little too much. And while certainly not amateurish at any rate I can think of other Fellini films better in this good, again not bad, actually it is skilled but with a somewhat grainy quality and lacking the dream-like feel of for instance 8 1/2. Faults aside, the costumes are stunning showing a lot of detail, while the settings are just as colourful. Nino Rota's scoring, which is largely made up of parts of his other works, is bright and cheerful, yet doesn't in any way undermine the melancholic ending. The structure of the story is much more focused than Satyricon, and while I did enjoy the documentary-like approach of some scenes, it was the personal and nostalgic charm that is part of Fellini's style all over that made I Clowns so intriguing. The clowns are interesting with more than them that meets the eye, they are not as easy to identify with as some of Fellini's other work but they are hardly detached either. The acting is engaging at feels at least naturalistic. All in all, largely successful and well done if not among Fellini's finest work. 8/10 Bethany Cox