Federico Fellini is perhaps the most well-known director to come from Italy and find popularity and success around the world. So much so that the term "Felliniesque" is still used to describe films with an air of sophistication and fantasy combined to tell a story. While Fellini made a number of films for which he is noted there are still many more that have been forgotten or rarely discussed. Such is the case with FEDERICO FELLINI'S ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL.

Until it was announced as coming out on disc from Arrow Academy I'd never even heard of the film other than to see it listed under Fellini's credits at IMDB. So of course my curiosity was piqued. I'd seen several films by Fellini and have always wanted to see more but have never had access to them. When this arrived I was ready to dive in.

The film is a story of an orchestra coming together for a rehearsal in a rundown auditorium that used to be a church. The rehearsal is being filmed by a television crew to be shown as a documentary of how things run. To say less than smoothly is an understatement.

With each successive interview done among the entire orchestra the crew learns how each member views him/herself and their instrument. Most do not see themselves as supportive members of a collective whole but deserving of attention for themselves. And as each does so their counterpoints comment about how wrong they are and that they are more deserving. In addition to that, many have a cynical attitude towards their chosen profession which would seem odd as it has provided them a living.

The conductor arrives and rehearsal begins. His dictatorial manner disrupts more than helps the rehearsal though as he berates various members of the orchestra, requiring them to go over the same parts over and over again much to their consternation. The members anger and eventually their union rep, who's been there the whole time, calls for a break. When they return the arguments ensue and then something happens that changes it all.

The movie is told in a more straightforward manner than the previous films of Fellini I've seen in the past. The time frame is told as the story unfolds rather than jumping from moment to moment. The same holds true for the locations used, almost all of it taking place in the auditorium. This makes it easier to follow than one would expect.

The performances here come off as real, as if these were not actors but actual orchestra members discussing their craft and beliefs. None take away the center stage from another, the focus on the entire group as a whole rather than a select member or two. In so doing it helps make the film all the more realistic.

After watching the film I went to look into it and discovered that Fellini was trying to depict the Italian government here with the orchestra depicting what he saw as the problem. Rather than working together to solve their problems they continued to prattle on and work against one another instead. This held true for all characters here, as individuals, as members of a union unwilling to bend and as a conductor who feels he is the final arbitrator of all things creative. With that in mind perhaps Fellini wasn't talking just about Italian politics but politics the world over.

The film is well made with a subtle sense of lighting and filming that never makes you think you're seeing anything less than a film crew shooting a documentary, the camera rolling at all times with few breaks. Known for his flights of fantasy in his film Fellini chooses not to go there this time, instead telling his story in a more realistic fashion. The film has been lauded as an undiscovered classic and with the release of it to blu-ray the odds are it will soon find its audience.

It might seem redundant to say this but Arrow Video has once more shown their dedication to providing the best product out there. This one is no exception with a brand new 2k restoration of the film produced exclusively for Arrow Films as part of the prestige format, Arrow Academy. Extras include "Richard Dyer on Nino Rota and Orchestra Rehearsal" with the film scholar talking about the composer and this his last collaboration with Fellini, "Orchestrating Discord" a visual essay on the film by Fellini biographer John Baxter, a gallery with rare posters and press material on the film from the Felliniana collection of Don Young, a reversible sleeve with two original artwork options and with the first pressing only an illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writings on the film by Adrian Martin.

If you've never seen a Fellini film this is a good place to start keeping in mind he's toned things down here a bit. If you're a fan then you'll want to add this to your collection. It's definitely worth a watch.

It is rather neglected a movie by Fellini, but I agree with those who see it as a 'metaphor' of the Italian society; not of the Italian society in general, but of the Italian society at the end of the '70s. After 1968, there was turmoil in the country and the artist's message is quite clear, apparently: prolonged social strife can lead to dictatorial outcomes. The message is not so clear at the beginning of the film and it might be seen as a sort of a 'documentary', but when that huge stone 'ball' starts pounding on the building where the 'orchestra' are rehearsing and a faraway voice starts becoming more and more clear and strong, Fellini's message becomes obvious.

Some fully creditable critics deemed "Prova d'orchestra" as being Fellini's main masterpiece. Although recognizing their slight exaggeration, I still can fully empathize with their point. The movie is one of the most intelligent, stylish and personal instances of the much used (and abused) recipe of the "social microcosm". Of course, Fellini's trick to build up a parable of society by using the orchestra parallel is not only original, but also very efficient: the metaphors and symbols resulting from this are both powerful and humorous, in an atrociously satyric vein.

Also, it's very interesting to note the gradual glissando from realism to hyperbole, and from cold detachment to paranoid hysteria; as such, what started as a pseudo-documentary, impartial and technical, gradually turns into a major pandemonium, to culminate with the hallucinatory profiling of the demolition iron ball, as an omen of doom - that being the point where the artist really meets the divine, both as meaning, and as means.

One should also notice the masterfully style of shooting the orchestra, the people and the instruments, to build up the cinematographic symphony layered over the musical one, and to create that irresistibly fast-paced narrative in images, that makes the movie so exciting and captivating - it's literally to be watched on the edge on your seat, although nothing more spectacular happens than an orchestra rehearsing in a disaffected church... all being the result of Fellini's skillful cinematography.

At last, one couldn't depart any reference to this masterpiece without mentioning at least in passing the haunting finale. Although I always regarded with political objectivity and historical honesty the national-socialist ideology, goals and means, I must confess that I fully assimilate Fellini's powerful warning about any dictatorial excesses. Balduin Bass' voice rising in a Hitlerian monologue is an efficient and pointed mean of expression and style - and his last line after fade out, "Signori... Da capo!", indeed MAKES A POINT!