The Clowns

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05/11/2020 A love letter to clowns in the form of a false documentary, full of humor and nostalgia. Something very similar was done by Woody Allen year later in Radio Days. Curious thing a song very similar to the one in The Godfather is played in one of the sequences near the end. See more andy f 01/19/2020 Fellini's Clowns is a masterpiece about the then dying art of clowns. It is a thing of farce, beauty and comic tragedy just as clowning is. Utterly captivating, enthralling and enchanting. See more 01/16/2017 Fellini directs a pseudo-documentary about clowns and their rapidly vanishing place in European society. He dramatizes his first visit to the circus and his reaction to the clowns and how they reminded him of some odd people who lived in his village. He then travels around Europe interviewing famous, aging clowns. The film ends with a 20 minute clown performance. Parts of this work for me, parts really don't. The dramatizations and the clown performances are fantastic. The documentary segment really isn't. Fellini inserts himself and his "crew" (obviously fake) into the documentary segments, adding some bad comedy and taking time away from the interviews. Consequently, the interviews seem pretty light on content. I don't think you learn anything particularly interesting about clowns. See more 01/22/2015 A wonderful tribute to clowns and circuses. Fellini mixes history, clown performances and poignancy to say good bye to clowns because circuses are disappearing. Audiences are too sophisticated for circus and clown acts it would appear. Fellini touches on endings, death, aging, and loss all intermingled with the humour of clown acts. A great film and all because a boy loved the circus. See more 06/24/2013 Some of Fellini's movies show a zest for a circus-like frenzy so it was only appropriate that this is the culmination of that. See more 01/18/2013 A strange kind of documentary that includes narrative and real life footage based on the subject of the clowns, something that inspired Fellini's cinema greatly. This feels like a personal tribute to clowns that doesn't work so well on a widespread scale, as Fellini is ultimately not so able to transfer his passion for the circus with this inconsistent piece of work; however, a more Nouvelle Vogue influence can be traced and proves the filmmaker's wish to constantly try new things and experiment. It is, however, Nino Rota with his magnificent score that takes centre stage. See more Read all reviews

The Clowns

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