My introduction into the world of Fellini was well....different. My feelings towards this fragmented autobiographical film is mixed. Fellini fills each scene with beautiful symbolism but what good is the symbol(s) if the director doesn't make it matter to me.

It's a film about the struggles that directors as creative expressionists and artists deal must overcome to succeed. But Fellini's characters, mainly the protagonist are so distant from the audience that understanding them is difficult. The whole film is based on Jungian and Freudian theories, that is clear. Fellini's alter-ego, simply put is a player. Each action he does is usually driven by his libido. But there has to be more to him; but Fellini didn't make that clear to…

"Such a monstrous presumption to think that others could benefit from the squalid catalogue of your mistakes! "
#65 on Berken's Favorite Movies Of All Time

A quick disclaimer: for those that are interested in movies almost exclusively for plot, 8½ is not for you. For those for whom fascinatingly flawed characters, gorgeous impressionist visuals, and, most importantly, thought provoking themes are more than enough, however, dive right in. While writer's block has arguably been better put to film in Adaptation and Barton Fink, there has perhaps never been a greater exploration of the delusional narcissism that results from being a successful man in a highly patriarchal society.

Here, Federico Fellini all but admits to being just such a man,…

“Accept me as I am. Only then can we discover each other.”
-Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni)

Something happened whilst I was watching this film, something that occurs only very rarely. It’s the sort of sensation one looks for in cinema; and the subsequent feeling of gratification afterwards. For me, sitting down for what is shamefully my first time seeing this, and indeed anything from Fellini, I felt that response that one only feels once in a blue moon, that lasting impression so sincere and strong that it leaves itself imprinted on your psyche forever. My mind was literally blown, for lack of a better expression, from the sheer intensity of the experience.

Now, perhaps that is just me going a…

Film Number 9 on PinHeadLarry145's 30 Days 30 Countries Film Challenge!

Italy, 1963.

This challenge was going to be a few firsts for me. Some of those firsts include my first Tarkovsky film, and my first Fellini film. I've been looking to jump into films like these forever, and the challenge finally gave me a formal excuse. While I had to make a sacrifice and watch this over Netflix instead of the (Ive heard) beautiful Criterion Collection BluRay. But that hardly matters.

8 1/2 is one of the most mysteriously brilliant films I've seen.

The movie is about a director who is experiencing a mental block or lack of creativity with his new film. This apparently mirrors the real life…

Part of my Around the World in May-ty Days series

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I know this is going to sound a little premature considering that this is the first Fellini film I've seen, but I just don't think he's my kinda thing. This film is stylistcally very unique, technically stunning and gorgeous to look at (please don't watch this on netflix, even a dvd Criterion copy is 100 times better), but I couldn't help but feel like this film was empty. There was a definite lack of that something that connects me to a film. Considering that the style of this film failed to connect he'll probably end up being like von Trier to me: a director I can admire but not…

Sunday was Fellini’s birthday (and David Lynch’s), so I thought I owed it to myself to finally watch this, after owning it for oh… 8 years? Let’s call it 8 1/2 years (I hate myself.)

This movie is delightful, I could probably watch Mastroianni tap-dance and whistle Figaro and day dream about Claudia forever. While Guido certainly is the protagonist, and clearly auto-biographical for Fellini, I’m never sure we are meant to completely sympathize with him, and probably how Fellini was feeling about himself. It seems like Guido is forever stuck loving all the women, but also being completely exasperated by them. He seems cutting too close to almost a teen girl with posters on his bedroom wall just suffering…

My introduction into the world of Fellini was well....different. My feelings towards this fragmented autobiographical film is mixed. Fellini fills each scene with beautiful symbolism but what good is the symbol(s) if the director doesn't make it matter to me.

It's a film about the struggles that directors as creative expressionists and artists deal must overcome to succeed. But Fellini's characters, mainly the protagonist are so distant from the audience that understanding them is difficult. The whole film is based on Jungian and Freudian theories, that is clear. Fellini's alter-ego, simply put is a player. Each action he does is usually driven by his libido. But there has to be more to him; but Fellini didn't make that clear to…

Part of my Around the World in May-ty Days series

--

I know this is going to sound a little premature considering that this is the first Fellini film I've seen, but I just don't think he's my kinda thing. This film is stylistcally very unique, technically stunning and gorgeous to look at (please don't watch this on netflix, even a dvd Criterion copy is 100 times better), but I couldn't help but feel like this film was empty. There was a definite lack of that something that connects me to a film. Considering that the style of this film failed to connect he'll probably end up being like von Trier to me: a director I can admire but not…

Film Number 9 on PinHeadLarry145's 30 Days 30 Countries Film Challenge!

Italy, 1963.

This challenge was going to be a few firsts for me. Some of those firsts include my first Tarkovsky film, and my first Fellini film. I've been looking to jump into films like these forever, and the challenge finally gave me a formal excuse. While I had to make a sacrifice and watch this over Netflix instead of the (Ive heard) beautiful Criterion Collection BluRay. But that hardly matters.

8 1/2 is one of the most mysteriously brilliant films I've seen.

The movie is about a director who is experiencing a mental block or lack of creativity with his new film. This apparently mirrors the real life…