This week’s movie suggestion is my favorite Fellini film, ‘Amarcord’. When looking at this movie and my last suggestion, ‘Seven Samurai’, I’ve realized that I like movies that have something to say about people and how they behave, a deep understanding of human nature.

  Set in Fascist Italy, this movie is both dark and light-hearted at the same time. Fellini is so skilled that both tones of the movie don’t clash, but in fact merge perfectly to tell a tale like no other. And Fellini knew what he was talking about, this movie being a semi-autobiographical story of his youth. The title of the movie, meaning ‘I remember’, is also fitting. Like people’s memories of their past, sometimes this story seems to take an almost fairy tale-like quality to it, while at other times it brings us back down to reality. It touches upon truths of life that a lot of movies shy away from and looks at both young and old people with blunt honesty. While a lot of these characters seem cheerful enough, scratch the surface and you’ll find a lot of sadness in them too.

  When I first saw this movie as a kid, I saw it as a comedy. Only as an adult can I really appreciate its complexity, and how just like so often in life, the funny moments are mixed with the darker ones.