Spoilers herein.
Kurosawa never relaxed. He was inventing and taking risks until his eighties. Fellini, on the other hand was in the Bunuel class: he stopped being interesting midway in life and we are all poorer as a result.
This is a very watchable film, even endearing in places. After all, this was a man who still knew how to see situations for us. But the situations are inconsequential -- there is no life force here. No one will have their life changed by this as they might with more than one of his earlier projects. This isn't art, it's just emotional decoration. It is coffeetable Fellini.
The compromises in this film bothered the cowriter, Tonino Guerra until he collaborated with another great filmmaker 8 years later. The same subject: constructed memory. But this time, in Tarkovsky's `Nostalgia,' you end up with something both beautiful and lifealtering. Can't say that of `Amarcord.'
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.
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