4. Amarcord: Fellini's tribute to farts, fascism, and jerking off

Ah, Amarcord. I remember this film being the first time I was underwhelmed by the great Federico Fellini. Not to say this is a bad film, but coming as it did after Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits, I distinctly remember thinking, "man that was...alright." In fact, and this probably says more about me than it does the film itself, but the thing I remembered most about this film was the scene where the tobacconist shoves her absurdly gigantic breasts into a teenage boy's face. Now, with a second viewing, I think the film clicked a bit more with me, but overall, it's still just...alright. I can't quite put my finger on what the issue is with this film. It's frequently hilarious, with a lot of gross-out gags and people being annoyed by each other. My favorite gag may be when a group of school boys create a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that lets a student take a piss in class and blame it on someone else. However, overall the film just feels like a bunch of disconnected memories loosely tied together with a teenage boy named Titta and an old man who pops up to talk directly to the audience. To be less charitable, it sometimes feels like a lesser Buñuel effort, but with more butt humor.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of films that are just a series of disconnected (or vaguely connected) skits. Even when it's by a director I love (such as Buñuel), I'm less inclined to stay interested because I'm not given enough time to give a shit about the characters I'm watching. I was really hoping that I would enjoy this one more the second time around, but it just felt like a lesser work to me.

That said, this is my easiest ranking yet, as it's the first film on this jaunt that I don't consider a masterpiece of some kind. It feels weird not to compare and contrast this film with the others on the list, but why bother? On any given night I'd easily watch the previous three entries over this. In fact, sad as it is to say, I may never watch Amarcord again, despite Magali Noel's delightful appearance and the scattered toilet gags. To the bottom of the list with you, Amarcord:

1. Seven Samurai (1954)
2. Grand Illusion (1937)
3. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
4. Amarcord (1973)

Next time: Will one of my favorite films from my early twenties hold up, or will I end up bitching about how it doesn't? Tune in when I watch and judge Truffaut's The 400 Blows!