The Clowns: is Federico Fellini’s free-forming film a comedy? A documentary? A mockumentary about the shooting of a documentary? What it undeniably is, in any case, is a stroll down memory lane, a love letter to an art form beloved by the director. It starts with a circus arriving in a small Italian town, to the fascination of the whole place, but particularly of a young boy scared of clowns. From there, it moves to an investigation of the types and the most important clowns in Europe, mingling it with their routines. It is a nostalgic journey, depending on how close one is to that boy’s attitude. As a document on clowns, the film is lacking, but as a rumination on creating art, it’s quite interesting. Cinematographer Dario Di Palma captures the whole thing with an elegant camera and expressive lighting. What truly stitches the experience together, however, is the music: composer Nino Rota’s original score and the versions of previous work.