Amman, January 26 – The Cinema Committee at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation will screen Federico Fellini’s Italian film “Orchestra Rehearsal” tomorrow, Tuesday, at 6:30 PM at the Foundation’s Jabal Amman venue.
At first, the film appears to be a documentary about an orchestra rehearsing a musical piece. But it quickly evolves into a magical and complex work that reflects Fellini’s genius. In his memoirs, Fellini describes the film as a commentary on the 20th century: the setting—a candlelit church restored for musical rehearsals—contrasts with the chaotic life of modern Rome. An elderly copyist assigns parts to the musicians, explaining the church’s history, including the burial of three popes and seven patriarchs, and noting the church’s excellent acoustics.
The musicians arrive in groups, some clearly more interested in a soccer match than the music, with one even bringing a radio to follow the game during rehearsal. Not all are indifferent, however—senior musicians like the 93-year-old copyist and music teacher recall a time when musicians were more serious and performed better.
The musicians speak in various Italian dialects, with the German conductor occasionally reverting to his native language in moments of frustration—perhaps due to leading a second-rate Italian orchestra instead of a Berlin symphony.
Rehearsal mirrors the initial chaos of Rome’s streets. Musicians joke, follow the soccer match on the radio, chase a mouse, and get distracted by other diversions. The conductor becomes crude, sparking conflicts that escalate into a wild, anarchic revolt where excrement is thrown at posters of famous German composers. Amid this chaos, a stray iron ball—used for demolition—unexpectedly kills Clara, the sympathetic harpist.
Through this disorder, order is gradually restored. The orchestra resumes under the conductor’s guidance, playing again from the beginning, while minor disputes continue and the conductor delivers a fiery German speech on a darkened screen.
Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal is a unique blend of humor, chaos, and social commentary, exploring human behavior, discipline, and the tension between order and disorder in music and life.