The limited scope of Orchestra Rehearsal – the single set, the low budget, the short running time – works to its benefit; a pity Fellini didn’t try repeating the exercise in the very uneven rest of his career. The whole film is focused on one single idea — the workings of the orchestra as the acting out of the forces at work in Italian society. It’s also a very conservative film where resistance to authority is expressed only as pure anarchy and the rebels quickly submit to their authoritarian leader (in the person of the conductor, whose voice, when the film fades to black at the end, changes to a German Hitler-like rant), but, reject the message as we may, the film is satisfying in its forcefulness and economy.
by Ian Johnston | Source: 35mm print
28 Oct 2007 1:44 PM | Submit Comment
