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Ginger and Fred
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by MGM (Warner)
Sales Rank: 38006
Price: $19.98
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In 1986, Federico Fellini's satiric take on television vulgarianism might have been considered, well, Fellini-esque. Today, the grotesque commercials and insipid game shows he depicts pale next to reality. Billed in their heyday as Ginger & Fred, Ameilia (Giulietta Masina) and Pippo (Marcello Mastroianni) are reunited after 30 years to perform their Rogers-Astaire ballroom dance tribute act on <I>We Are Proud to Present</I>, a television variety show. Amelia is now a widowed grandmother. Pippo has gone somewhat to seed. Can they recapture the magic amidst this surreal circus of transvestites, midgets, and a Ronald Reagan impersonator? <I>Ginger & Fred</I> works best when Amelia and Pippo's bittersweet reunion is center stage, thanks to the impeccable charm and grace of Masina (<I>La Strada</I>) and the incomparable Mastroianni (<I>La Dolce Vita</I>), two actors most closely associated with the director. <I>Ginger & Fred</I> is as much a tribute to artists ("benefactors of humanity," someone notes at one point) as it is to the ephemeral state of cinema itself. "We are phantoms," Pippo tells his partner. "We arise from the darkness and disappear again." Like Pippo, Fellini makes a few missteps, but <I>Ginger & Fred</I> is ultimately quite moving ("Bravo," a fan congratulates Amelia. "You made me cry."), with an unforgettable train station finale. Fellini made only two more films, but <I>Ginger & Fred</I> would have made a fitting swan song. <I>--Donald Liebenson</I>
Viewer Reviews
There are some Fellini films I've found to be brilliant, but incoherent. This is not one of them. A great, funny, tragic story, well told and unforgettable.
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Ginger and Fred
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