The Movie
To casual admirers, the great Federico Fellini's work might be distinguished by two overriding traits: a distinctively, subtly comedic style to his storytelling, and a strong fascination with the circus. Both are evident in his 1970 telefilm, I Clowns (The Clowns). The movie actually debuted on TV on Christmas night of that year, but was subsequently released theatrically in full color.
Clowns is a challenge for today's audiences to wrap their heads around. It begins almost as a dream, as a young boy (we later figure out that he represents the narrator, Fellini himself) awakens to see the circus arriving in his town, setting up their tent outside his window in the middle of the night. Much of the first act is told from a child's point-of-view, with the quick, weird, random glimpses of life for which the director was known (his hometown was apparently quite a freak show), and extended performances from the big top.
Suddenly however the movie shifts to the present day, as Fellini and his crew are producing a documentary about the pagliacci and whether or not the circus has a place in modern culture. But here too we have the sense that everything we are seeing is in fact scripted. It is a curious, half-dramatic/half-pseudo-documentary film with--as the title suggests--plenty of clowns.
The Picture
This disc sports a new HD transfer from the original 35mm film negative, digitally restored for the occasion at the original 4:3 television aspect ratio. The AVC video presentation enjoys a high bitrate, with an adequately clear picture and respectable colors for all of the circus pomp. Blacks are fairly oppressive however, surrendering precious little image detail, but at least this Blu-ray maintains their natural, filmic warmth.
The Sound
The default track is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono, but a 5.1 remix is also available if we actively select it, which undeniably opens up the soundfield, giving everything--voices, wind, footsteps, but minimal sound effects cues--a greater immediacy. (Both are mistakenly identified "English" by the Blu-ray player.) Both are in Italian and we should brace for quite a bit of hiss, whichever version we choose. Dynamic range is rather limited, and little effort has been made to really exploit the surrounds, as when dueling trumpets are playing on opposite sides of a rotunda and the rears are silent.
The new and improved English subtitles default to On, although I caught a couple of misspellings. Once an editor....
The Extras
The disc's two extras enjoyably enhance the Fellini experience in new and old ways. The short film: "Agenzia Matrimoniale" ("Marriage Agency," 16-and-a-half minutes, black-and-white) is in fact Fellini's segment from the 1953 film "Love in the City." Also here is the new, 42-minute visual essay "Fellini's Circus," providing extensive background about the movie and the man. Both of these are in HD.
"Circus" was created by Adriano Aprà , who has also edited this set's lovely little companion book A Journey into the Shadow, full of photos, artwork, quotes and more.
Final Thoughts
Kinda sentimental and educational, I Clowns assumes a fondness for or interest in the circus and clowning in particular, with obscure revelations and long stretches of performance that are not necessarily for the masses. (Clowns wear on my nerves, and the more severe issue of coulrophobia is mentioned in passing.) The documentary/fiction-hybrid style takes can be off-putting, and the technical quality could definitely be stronger, but Fellini fans searching for the best version of this hard-to-find film need look no further.
Product Details
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