Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Clowns Blu-ray Movie Review

Fellini has a fetish and it wears a rainbow wig

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 26, 2011

Having visited the circus once as a child and raised outside of the influence of the painted man arts, I’m not one to list clowns as a phobia, curling up in terror when a white-faced person of professional tomfoolery skips near. Those who suffer from coulrophobia (heavens, there’s actually a name for it) would be well advised to steer clear of the 1970 Federico Fellini effort, “The Clowns.” For viewers with a larger appetite for top shelf high jinks, the picture is an extraordinary time capsule of circus feats, blurring the line between fantasy and reality as a master filmmaker delves into his most cherished subject, whisking viewers across Europe on a hunt for unforgettable clowns. It’s a movie containing extensive performance footage, bizarre tales from the vocation, and rosy-cheeked sorrow for a dying art form. It’s Fellini’s childhood obsessions splashed across the screen, producing a pleasurably disorientating viewing experience.

“The Clowns” eschews a conventional route of documentation to weave in and out of reality, commencing with Fellini as a daydreaming child, confronted with a circus assembling outside his bedroom window. Drawn to the creative combustion occurring under the big top, Fellini spied a community of performers executing a myriad of outlandish gags and rehearsed acts of courage. However, the clowns and their aggressive horseplay eventually overwhelmed the young boy, forcing him out of the circus, yet their grotesqueries left an indelible mark. In 1970, still feeling the urge to educate himself on the temperament of clowns, Fellini gathers a small film crew and takes off across Italy and France, hoping to meet and interview legendary clowns, looking to understand the spirit of the business and the lasting zeal of the performers, all seemingly delighted to be offered the spotlight once again. As the journey winds around recollections and visits to historic circuses, sequences of the clowns at work raising comedic hell are provided, overseen by Fellini and his gang.

Made for Italian television, “The Clowns” is perhaps Fellini’s most personal movie. Dissecting his youthful fixations, this part documentary/part performance piece is a highly fanciful valentine to the mystery of clowns and the majesty of circus demonstration. Steering clear of a direct informational route (it’s not a sleepy assemblage of talking heads), the filmmaker instead works himself into the surreal action, pulling together a crew of exotic faces to assist in his investigation, which launches in Rome with local talent, soon extending to Paris, with its rich history of jester mastery. Though firmly rooted in the specifics of the craft, “The Clowns” is a rather aimless feature, resembling more of a whirring, easily distracted thought process than a firmly balanced documentary, spending as much time chasing after the titular characters as it does pursuing their elusive creative spark.

Explanation isn’t a primary component of “The Clowns,” which is exactly how Fellini likes to work. The prologue vaguely establishes the director’s first experience with the lovable fools, articulating how their sheer force of manic comedy rocked his juvenile sensibilities, creating an intoxicating sense of fear and curiosity, a personality itch that would go on to inform his future work as one of world cinema’s greatest directors. “The Clowns” is Fellini’s attempt to isolate and stroke that interest, displaying clowns in all their ornately decorated, highly choreographed glory, delighting in the resurrection of the discipline, which, according to the movie, endured a slow death during the 1950s and ‘60s. The picture seeks to inform the audience about the history of prominent European circuses and entertainers, tracking down some of the more famous faces of the industry, supplying brief interviews in casual settings -- sometimes just filming dinner conversation. There’s an educational aspect here, but nothing embellished beyond a superficial appreciation of specific skills. Fellini is more interested in wetting down the screen with colorful characters, keeping the effort bopping along with a nervous energy befitting a rubbery vocation.

Through adolescent daydreams and WWII-era stories of eccentric locals, “The Clowns” gently posits the idea that everyone is a clown of some sort, reaching beyond the circus to reveal jesters in everyday life (e.g. kids, authority figures, and the mentally ill). It’s a thematic kick that permits the material some approachability, generating a clean feel for misbehavior before it vaults back into professional tangents. There’s also star power included to help beef up the picture, offering cameos from Anita Ekberg (hitting up the circus to purchase a panther) and Victoria Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s daughter and one of the primary influences for Cirque du Soleil.

Famous faces are fun to spot, and the feature’s interest in creating a universal concept of clowning is interesting, but the mischievous subject matter is best appreciate in performance, with most of “The Clowns” devoted to playtime with the mad men. While a few of the sketches are humorously gruesome (including scenarios involving murder and cannibalism), Fellini largely gravitates toward lighthearted games, displaying clowns executing diverse pratfall methods and buffoonery, always engaged in wild battles against one another and common objects, with tubas a frequent source of frustration. Those damn tubas. Costuming and set design can’t be beat (Fellini rarely disappoints when it comes to style), and while this is not an accurate representation of natural ability (edits and camera trickery are employed to summon magic), the basic elements of timing are warmly represented, gifting the movie a lasting portrait of skill.

The Clowns Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.33:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings Fellini's use of color to outstanding life, with restoration work capturing the intensity of fantasy carried within this picture. Hues are outstanding and stable, offering bold reds and golds, while clown make-up carries even greater visual power, revealing crisp whites. Clarity is exceptional throughout the feature, permitting a full read of facial character and autumnal locales, though the performance sequences benefit the most from the HD event, allowing viewers to study techniques and general circus oddity from a bygone era (the messy particulars of water play are easily observed), while retaining a textured cinematic feel with a respectful layer of grain. Skintones look healthy, as does shadow detail, which preserves dense costuming details. The print looks superb, free of any disruptions and damage. The restoration team did a terrific job bringing this title to BD.

The Clowns Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix doesn't offer a sensational dimensional effort, but it feels comfortable, cleanly arranging a cacophony of scoring and screen comedy. The mix prefers a frontal push, keeping the thickly dubbed Italian dialogue clean, separated well from the whimsical intensity of the clown performances. There's some mild circular ambiance with music offerings, but rear channels aren't terribly taxed and low-end is barely engaged. The track is best with broad acts of entertainment, handling the thin sound design well -- the sound is seldom tinny or unpleasant, staying composed even during the most madcap of detours. Sound effects are pronounced but never overwhelm the action, while audience participation registers loudly, sustaining the you-are-there ambiance.

The Clowns Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "A Journey into the Shadow" is a 48-page booklet containing written recollections from Fellini, original drawings, and script pages from the picture.

• Fellini's Circus (42:24, HD) is a rather unusual BTS featurette, taking an imposing analytical approach to the discussion of "The Clowns." Little warmth and remembrance is permitted here, focusing more on the mathematics of Fellini's work, investigating shot length and the film's rhythm in painstaking detail. More valuable is an exploration of the stars of the feature, taking a few moments to isolate the clowns and their extensive performance history. It's a dry viewing experience and far too reliant on extended movie clips to pad the run time, but the academic approach should be valuable to more technically minded students of the medium.

• "Un Agenzia Matrimoniale" (16:38, HD) is a 1953 short film from Fellini.

• A Trailer has not been included.

The Clowns Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Clowns" is a strange picture, but never alienating. The loving tone of the work keeps the wild activities compelling, and Fellini's infatuation with the topic provides a smooth pace up the final act. Climaxing with a clown "funeral" of sorts, the film goes haywire, unleashing a group of excited performers to accurately sell the extended play atmosphere of gig, flopping all over the frame, making use of props and vehicles to capture pure insanity. It's more clowning than anyone would ever need, but somehow I think Fellini feels he's shortchanging his audience. While vivid and researched, "The Clowns" seems like it only scratches the surface with his red-nosed, floppy-shoed obsession.