First of all a warning: my review will be VERY partial... Indeed, I already saw this movie several times, even when it was released (I was a child then). But lately in my favourite movie theatre in the frame of a series about animation I had the occasion to see it again just a couple of weeks after I saw for the first time Fantasia... Well, you already guessed which I preferred. Now actually I could appreciate the Fantasia-spoof part of Bozzetto's operation: when you see Debussy's Prelude a l'Apres-Midi d'un Faune you cannot help thinking for comparison to Beethoven's Sixth in Fantasia, where the Arcadian kitsch of Disney is turned into a funny-melancholic erotic fantasy. And what about my all-time favourite, Ravel's Bolero where a Boschian theory of monsters is generated by the rest of a Coke bottle and migrates toward the ruins of civilisation only to be at the end overwhelmed by man (which turns out to be an ape)? The comparison with the "6 millions years ago's documentary" (Disney's own words) of Stravinsky's Sacre du Printemps is striking. But Allegro Non Troppo is not only a Fantasia's spoof. The Dvorak's and Sibelius' segments are two stand-outs, Vivaldi's is light-hearted and Stravinky's is very funny. And the variety of styles and tones, from the grotesque to the moving, from impressionistic to almost cartoonistic is stunning to everyone who loves animation. And for one who has always loved Bozzetto's work the series of finals reminding him of other shorts like Opera or Ego tears him always to laughters... And let me also say something in favour of the sure weaker live-action's scenes.Sure, they are too forced, Disney's spoof is here too explicit, but at least this atmosphere of "joke among friends" captures also the Bozzetto's fan... And one can see how Nichetti is really building his character, a cartoon-like little man in struggle with the external world, with a mimic reminiscent of Keaton or Tati... Well, I don't know if I transferred my enthusiasm: I would like to say more, but I already used so much space...
Review of Allegro non troppo
