Bruno Bozzetto's: Allegro Non Troppo
by Bruno Bozzetto
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Marialuisa Giovannini, Maurizio Micheli, Maurizio Nichetti, Mirella Falco, N?stor GarayDirector: Bruno Bozzetto
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Maurizio Nichetti
Cinematographer: Enzo Lucchesi
Cinematographer: Luciano Marzetti
Cinematographer: Mario Masini
Cinematographer: Ugo Magni
Producer: Bruno Bozzetto
Writer: Bruno Bozzetto
Editor: Giancarlo Rossi
Editor: Ugo Micheli
Writer: Guido Manuli
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Animated, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-03
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Homevision
Movie Reviews of Bruno Bozzetto's: Allegro Non Troppo
Movie Review: Allegro non Troppo - A unique, Best-of-Best film
Summary: 5 Stars
Allegro non Troppo is, like most works of genius, flawed in some fundamental ways, but I cannot picture it in any other way. Its flaws -- like your crazy uncle's greased up hair -- make its genius stand out over a backdrop of humanity we know all too well. I refer to the slapstick live-action humor between animated sequences. It's funny; don't let the nay-sayers turn you away before you see it. But it's also painful. The writers obviously had not purged the fascist terrors of the 1930s and 1940s from their proud Italian souls, and still had that story to tell. In the end (the sequences all add up to their own "movie") good triumphs, and even a love interest is made viable in a Chaplinesque way. The live-action sequences are definitely worth watching all the way through, at least once. Then you may skip through it if you like!
But let's talk about the animation, for that's what the film is really about. And the music. The musical choices are terrific, though you have to ask if you want to associate images with your favorite classical works for the rest of your life. I find it not too hard to substitute images of my own, so it's not a bother to me, but some have trouble. If that's the case, then you might avoid Fantasia, as well. Many others in this review section have listed the pieces and animation segments, so I won't go through them again, one-by-one. Instead, let's look at the animation as a whole. It's cartoon animation, as opposed to Disney's more detailed and thorough artistry with the jaw-dropping effects that Disney created and others imitated poorly. So, from the outset you see the style of animation and realize that this is not an imitation of DIsney, but an artistic statement of its own. Therein lies part of its genius. We're not surprised when we see naked breasts or actual live footage briefly flash through some animations, for this is clearly the artistic creation of one person -- a person who has much to say and wastes no time getting it said. Why should art merely entertain on the surface, with wistful nostalgia and cutesy expressions? Bozzetto gets down to the big themes. Prelude: Afternoon of a Faun, for example, deals with the ubiquitous tragedy of aging, of losing one's powers, a condition of humanity (and all creatures, for that matter) from which there is no return. One can feel the palpable frustration of the character who sees everywhere the objects of his desire, but is only rejected by them. In the end, he becomes almost infantile against the bosom of the world -- from dust to dust -- from which he came.
Then there's the sequence about egos: the desire to set one's self apart, followed by the annoyance of copycats. And once he's established his reputation as the one to follow, the deviously vengeful maverick prepares a horrible trick to play upon his adversarial plagiarists... only to find that there ARE some things they won't do. He has underestimated their intelligence after all! Dvorak's Slavic Dance No. 7 seems to have been presciently composed with this sequence in mind!
Evolution was tackled by Disney in Fantasia, and was a monumental achievement in animation artistry. Disney used Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, for which the composer actually collaborated with Disney making cuts and changes he later claimed to regret. Bozzetto realized he could do better. Evolution isn't so dramatic; it's the continual march of living things through the terror of annihilation toward survival. What better work than Bolero, which repeats the same two themes verbatim until the climactic modulation to E Major, each repetition altered only in the orchestration. Similarly, the evolving protoplasms each "improve" over their last forms, only to be trumped by the next round. One tricky creature sets himself apart from the whole march partway through; the ape. With bad-boy antics, he leaps over the rest until they arrive at the future, only to find that he's beat them to it and laid out new rules. It's hilarious and deep. Would that all philosophy could be so ingeniously published.
Bozzetto's "Firebird" subjects our satanic tormentor with his own medicine, possibly curing him of his evil ways, but there seems to be little connection between the music and the animation, other than on the most banal level. Disney really does trump Bozzetto in Fantasia 2000, where the Firebird is treated to an animation much closer to the real story, and one which also is a tear-jerker that leaves you with hope. Unfortunately, Allegro non Troppo is a bit too senza-allegro for me at this point, though again I can't deny its creativity and uniqueness.
Others have focused on the dreamy-eyed cat, which was always a favorite in our household, too, so I won't go into it, other than to say that it so affected my children at a young age that I think they "got it" for life. They are adults now, but they both have powerful political opinions traceable to that sequence. Yes, it's that moving. Would that the world could see.
The animation style gets thin sometimes, but the sequences are imbued with imagination that keeps your focus from becoming critical of the visual plainness. Truly, they are works of genius -- and we are reminded in the live-action slapstick that genius isn't always what it seems. There's a lot of plain work involved. So, we are led to appreciate the beauty even more: that it exists at all, rather than having gotten shoved back onto the shelf before a budget and staff were committed to creating it. Not everyone could have made this happen. Of course, had his budget been Disney-esque, the animation might have been far more artistic, but I'll take what we've got and be thankful that the world tossed up this weird, wonderful, and tremendously moving commentary on the most human of themes.
As I said in the beginning, this is a flawed work, but one of great genius. Nobody will like every bit of it, but there is something important for everyone in this film. It should be in every video library. Seriously. On the level of Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka, Fantasia and its successor, Fantasia 2000, this is an outstanding work that is as much social commentary as work of art, and the artists who created it clearly had some firsthand experience with the evils this world has produced... as well as its most endearing beauties. Treat yourself. Treat everyone you know.
Shooshie
Summary of Bruno Bozzetto's: Allegro Non Troppo
In a riot of color and music, master animator Bruno Bozzetto offers his irreverent tribute to Disney's Fantasia. Transcending parody, this erotic, satiric, and delirious animated feature represents Bozzetto's vision of the world. In six distinct episodes, fantastic cartoon creatures march, slither, and bounce to the classical rhythms of Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Stravinsky. Perhaps most entrancing is the visualization of Ravel's "Bolero," in which the dregs of a Coke? bottle set forth a frenzied animal evolution across a surreal landscape. Maurizio Nichetti (The Icicle Thief, Volere Volare) stars in the equally wild live-action sequences that introduce each piece. For many critics, Allegro non troppo matches or surpasses the imagination and technique of Disney's masterpiece.Nominally, Allegro Non Troppo is an Italian spoof of Disney's classic Fantasia, and with its commentary on the human condition and its consequences, the film goes in thematic directions Disney would never have touched. Interspersed with the animation are black-and-white segments that involve a dictatorial conductor, a mousy animator, an orchestra full of old ladies, and a blowhard director. The animator is Italian comic Maurizio Nichetti, and the style is broad slapstick humor that stands in sharp contrast to the animated parts. Synced to Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is a vignette involving a satyr and his efforts to attract nymphs while fighting the effects of age, set perfectly to the mood of the piece. "Valse Triste" is set to the story of an abandoned cat as he wanders a derelict (war-torn?) building and remembers how things were when he had a more comfortable life. An incredibly imaginative segment is set to Ravel's "Bolero"; astronauts drop a Coke bottle on a planet and the story of evolution is traced, beginning in the bottle. A piece set to Stravinsky's The Firebird begs the question: what if it were a perfect world and Adam and Eve had resisted the temptation of the apple in the Garden of Eden? The style of the animation calls to mind late-'60s pop-art icon Peter Max, Yellow Submarine, and even the paintings of Bosch; what Allegro Non Troppo lacks in the visual detail of the Disney film, it makes up for in inventiveness, emotional depth, and wit. Be advised, though, that many segments are more adult in theme and not very suitable for kids. The pratfalls and gags of the live-action interludes seem out of place until they provide some relief from the pathos of some of the animation (like "Valse Triste," a real tear-jerker). This is an important animated film that has been somewhat neglected after its popularity in the '70s, and a must-see for animation fans. --Jerry Renshaw
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