What do you think she meant when she said “a huge black monster with giant claws”?
How much you’re charmed by The Clowns will depend on your interest in what Fellini here mourns as the lost art of the clown. For myself, interest is pretty limited, but there’s no denying Fellini’s passion for and commitment to the subject—no surprise, given, for example, the circus motif in 8½ and the circus scenes in Juliet of the Spirits. So, the film contains early scenes recreating Fellini’s childhood memories of a circus visit (a precursor in tone to Amarcord)—there’s a lovely feeling to the slow track in the empty circus ring; Fellini himself and his crew in their documentary research, principally in Paris, interviewing former “white” clowns; and a recreation of a clown performance that acts as a funereal ceremony of this now lost art. I can’t share Fellini’s passion, but you have to acknowledge that in its own terms the film is remarkably successful.
by Ian Johnston | Source: 35mm print
14 Oct 2007 12:12 PM | Submit Comment