From the world of the curtain raiser comedy of Luci del varietà, two strolling players offer us again some of the most famous of the character parts from the traditional Variety Show. Then along comes the “white sheik”, the famous strip cartoons character interpreted by Alberto Sordi: with his exotic and charming white costume he appears from a very high swing to seduce the naïve young bride, an inveterate reader of picture stories; also, the shining White Face Clown and the legendary Frou Frou from I Clowns take us once again into the magic world of the circus.

The sounds of a waltz by Strauss introduce the character interpreted by Pina Bausch in the film E la nave va, a blind princess capable of perceiving and describing all the nuances of the colours of music. And then there is the loneliness of Casanova, the famous lover who by now only dances with a doll, surrounded by Venetian masks with black swirling mantles.

The fatigue of Ginger and Fred, two old strolling players who dance for television imitating the steps of one of the most famous American musical dancers, who bear their same name. And finally Amarcord, with the dignity of the lawyer with the bicycle, who is the keeper of the anecdotes and stories of the town, with the astonishment of the old grandfather who gets lost in the thick fog a few steps away from his house, and with Gradisca’s dream, the beautiful and charming hairdresser who still hopes she will leave one day to meet her true love; and finally with the coming of the Rex, the enormous transoceanic ship which appears as in a dream in the sea near Rimini.

After they have told their grotesque and moving stories, all the characters find themselves gathered together in the final carousel of Fellini 8 e mezzo, with snow, wind, fog, all those special effects so dear to the magical world of Fellini’s cinema.