The Clowns

In this late-career paean to his lifelong passion -- clowns -- Federico Fellini constructs a magnificent fantasia that ranges from childhood visions of the circus to a mockumentary expedition in search of the performing giants of yore. After the director's young alter ego spies a troupe parading by his window, an array of famed Italian clowns receive the Fellini treatment, while veteran actress Anita Ekberg is glimpsed trying to buy a panther.