Allegro Non Troppo

Bruno Bozzetto's critically acclaimed 1977 film Allegro Non Troppo may have lost a bit of its luster as a milestone of animation, but it will never lose its relevance as a work of art. Conceived as a tribute to Disney's classic Fantasia, this thematically ambitious fusion of animation and classical music is not entirely for children, as it contains images of harmless eroticism and touches on adult themes of war and ecology. In musical parlance, the title means "fast, but not too fast," and Bozzetto's team of gifted animators follow the same strategy, maintaining a lively visual pace to accompany selected works of Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Vivaldi, and Stravinsky. Punctuated by live-action sequences featuring the slapstick comedy of Maurizio Nichetti (known to American viewers for his 1990 comedy The Icicle Thief), the most celebrated segments are still the best: Ravel's "Bolero" is animated as a rhythmically dynamic parade of evolutionary progress, from primordial slime to the devastating power of man, while Sibelius' "Valse Triste" accompanies a beautiful, melancholy tale of a lonely cat in a war-torn building, sadly remembering happier days before his home was destroyed. Indeed, humanitarian warnings provide a thematic thread throughout much of Bozzetto's animation, which is why Allegro Non Troppo will never go out of style, even if its technical achievement seems quaint in the era of Finding Nemo. In addition to a fine liner notes essay by Video Librarian contributor Phil Hall, the DVD includes two excellent bonus features: a group of 10 animated shorts from Bozzetto's early career (popular in Italy but almost entirely unseen by American viewers), and a 41-minute Italian TV documentary, produced in 2002, featuring a comprehensive survey of Bozzetto's career and interviews with Bozzetto and several of his longtime collaborators. As a tribute--and an alternative--to Disney, all of Bozzetto's work is well worth a look. (J. Shannon)