Allegro non troppo

I first saw Allegro non Troppo around 1985 in a VHS copy. I truly loved the film, since it was so different from standard Disney fare. Even the B&W interludes seemed wacky and added to the overall viewing pleasure.

Specially great clips were the Sibelius Valse Triste and the Firebird Suite.

Well, I recently bought the DVD version from this movie (after joining a list in Amazon, so they would edit a DVD version of the film) and I must say that this version is GREAT. Not only is the original film complete and in an excellent version, but there's also 10 additional Bruno Bozzetto shorts plus a documentary about him and his filmmaking.

So I really got a wonderful deal and would truly reccommend this DVD to all animation fans.

9/10!

If you are feeling at all depressed or bored with psychological thrillers, this is just the film to brighten up your dark moments. It's not hilarious, it won't have you rolling about in hysterical laughter, but it will put a smile on your face and you may even manage a chortle or two. It's pure fantasy, the stuff that dreams are made of....Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius whose music forms the basis of this film would probably be amused at how their music has been interpreted.

While the black and white scenes of the compere, the conductor, the orchestra and the cartoonist are amusing enough, they seem a bit forced in their attempt at humour (the cartoonist is no Charlie Chaplin) and the transition from black and white to colour is never very smooth. Even the sound level is not constant.

Wherever did they get the old ladies to represent the orchestra? They looked as if they stepped straight out of a Fellini film. In a couple of farcical scenes one old girl while blowing a fanfare on her trumpet ran out of breath and fell over backwards. Another was knocked off the stage when she was struck by a cork propelled from an exploding bottle of champagne.

While the film lacks the technical quality of Disney's Fantasia, it still has some amusing and original ideas. To the sound of Ravel's Bolero, we see some sludge at the bottom of a bottle give way to primitive life and then follows in rapid succession the origin of the various species of life on earth. Even Darwin would have been fascinated by this interpretation of his theory of evolution.

Allegro Non Troppo is far more sexual than any of Disney's work. The faun is depicted as a lecherous old man, an interpretation never seen before in any of the great ballets. There are heart-tugging moments too, particularly to the beautiful music of Sibelius, when we see a starved cat searching for food, warmth and company amongst the ruins of a home.

When one ponders over the number of hours the artists worked on this film, one can only admire their competence and artistry. See it at your first opportunity.

Surely not all of you know the Italian version of Coca Cola... it is called Chinotto, it has better (healthier) ingredients, got more flavour, a bitter-sweet taste, less sparkling effects... in a few words it is pretty good. (Un-)fortunately it cannot challenge the American giant, but for those who know... In a very similar way Allegro Non Troppo stands compared to Fantasia. Fantastic and funny animations, clever and never vulgar, made without a big budget, but with lot of thinking and skills, it creates something quite different from its original model. Obviously the music choice is also very good and both animations and movie (it is not only animation) work fantastically well with the musical selection...You may like it or not, but it surely is a very good and enjoyable effort. Try it once, and you might change your (mass-production) habits...

This very hard-to-find mix of animation, music and comedy is a real treat for those who can appreciate it. I recorded it from TV some years ago, and it's still one of the most valuable articles in my archive. Very clever use of in-between b/w passages, great classical music and animations of totally different styles, concepts and attitudes, but each so well-blended with the music and the whole picture that you hardly get distracted.

I don't agree with the comparisons to Fantasia, this is something different. It deals with things (and uses imagery) that a Disney product would never dare, let alone in the days Fantasia was made.

If you have the slightest admiration for art, and can stand movies without the standard hollywood cliches, grab this one (though that won't be easy) and you'll not be sorry. 10 / 10

I stumbled upon this one by accident. This is a parody of the Disney film Fantasia, so much so that someone from Disney personally calls the narrator of the film to tell him it's been done before. The narrator then refers to a "Mr Gisney or Pisney or someone" calling. This film is not to be taken seriously. Plus, I've never seen Fantasia so I can't compare.

The strange story is as follows: An angry conductor wishes to put on a show that ties classical music with animation, and employs an orchestra of old women to play at his show. He also has a captive animator whom he uses to provide the cartoons for the film. This all acts as a bridging element between the animated segments, while our narrator tries to give a bit of background to each piece.

The first segment clues you in that the usual Italian obsession with naked women has not been forgotten in this film as we have an aging Satyr trying and failing to attract many of the nymphs frolicking about the landscape. Strangely beautiful, especially if you like trees made out of boobs, nipples everywhere, and a strangely poignant ending. I don't know what it means but it must mean something.

I'm not going through every segment but the linking segments and animated segments run into each other and you see life evolve from the bottom of a coke bottle, a monkey escape into the theatre from the same segment, a man turn himself into a cartoon, a very sad piece involving a cat having flashbacks, and the narrator having to call someone in to provide an ending to the film.

The whole thing is very tongue and cheek and, as a person who doesn't get Italian comedy, I found it actually funny too. The animation is great in certain bits too (especially the house the cat remembers recreating itself), and it's all rather moving and beautiful. Like a steak pie on a roller skate.