Federico Fellini’s The Clowns Coming To DVD This February

While we all would like to see every film from Federico Fellini in the Criterion Collection, sometimes we just have to take what we can get. Next month, thanks to Entertainment One, Fellini’s 1970 film The Clowns will be released on DVD.

This news comes buried in the latest post over on The Digital Bits, but I don’t see this listed on Entertainment One’s website. This DVD will be released on February 22nd, and will include a few supplemental treats, listed below. You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon here. (There is another DVD available on Amazon for The Clowns, but it looks like a poor quality, “print on demand” DVD, which I do not recommend you buy.)

Here is what the Digital Bits had to say:

The film has never been seen on DVD in the U.S., and will include a rare and exclusive short film by Fellini, a video essay on the genesis of the film and a 40-page booklet with Fellini drawings.

I’ve never seen this film (for obvious reasons), but I will definitely look into this next month when it is released. I’m not one of those people who are deathly afraid of clowns (and I honestly think a lot of people just like to put on that show), and from the various Fellini films that I’ve seen, I gather that Fellini was a big fan.

Here is the AllMovie Guide description of The Clowns (courtesy of Mubi.com)

The culmination of filmmaker Federico Fellini’s lifelong love affair with circus folk was his 1971 The Clowns. Fellini’s alter ego this time is a young boy, taking in his first circus (again, we’re treated to the ‘parade’ motif so often utilized by the director). As the clowns go through their rollicking routines, Fellini takes the time to snipe at movie critics by having one humorless newspaperman, who keeps repeating ‘What does it mean?’, inundated with pails of water. There is also a fleeting homage to Charlie Chaplin in the form of Chaplin’s daughter Victoria, who portrays an auditioning clown. Made for Italian TV, The Clowns sustains its exuberance by taking absolutely nothing seriously’”not even Fellini, who makes fun of himself throughout in the guise of a pretentious documentary filmmaker. ‘”allmovie guide

The Clowns is currently available over on Archive.org to watch for free, but I haven’t checked out the quality yet (I’d imagine it’s not very good).

2011 is already lining up to be a great year for fans of Fellini. With the upcoming Criterion Blu-ray release of Amarcord coming out in a few weeks (February 8th), as well as the possibility that we might see Roma and Satyricon join the Collection in 2011, we’re going to have a lot to keep ourselves entertained.

What do you think of this DVD release of The Clowns? Which Fellini films would you like to see upgraded to Blu-ray in 2011? Leave your thoughts below.