DVD: It Takes the Genius of Fellini to Make an Awesome Movie About Clowns

Yesterday, I dredged up the terrifying childhood memory of the creepy ventriloquist's dummy (if that's not redundant) in the ads for Magic, so let's keep the young-nightmare fuel going with a discussion of clowns. But even if those painted circus harlequins make you uneasy -- studies show you're in the majority -- you should still check out the DVD debut of Federico Fellini's fascinating The Clowns (RaroVideo).

Restored by Italian TV network RAI, The Clowns is Fellini's 1970 film in which he fully examines the obsession with circuses that plays into so many of his masterpieces. (The Clowns could stand alongside Hitchcock's Vertigo and practically anything by Todd Haynes in the popping-open-the-director's-head-and-looking-into-his-mind genre.)

Melding fantasy and documentary, realism and surrealism, The Clowns ventures forth in many directions, from tracking down the favored performers of the director's youth to examining the ongoing popularity of the circus itself. (And if all circuses were as cool as the one Fellini fabricated for the film, we'd all want to go.)

Add to that a delightful Nino Rota score and an appearance by La Dolce Vita star Anita Ekberg, and you've got a film that anyone who cares about Fellini -- or, basically, anyone who cares about movies -- totally needs to see. RaroVideo went the extra mile on this one, including a 1953 short film by Fellini (Un Agenzia Matrimoniale), a doc about Fellini's use of circus imagery throughout his career, and a gorgeous 50-page booklet featuring an essay and drawings by Fellini himself.

Watch The Clowns with a Fizbo you love.