Full of Fellini, for better or worse, "8 1/2" has a lot going for it. Still, for me, I tend to enjoy the visuals and the juxtapositions far more than the confused and deliberately abstruse symbolism. The women are filmed in...
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Full of Fellini, for better or worse, "8 1/2" has a lot going for it. Still, for me, I tend to enjoy the visuals and the juxtapositions far more than the confused and deliberately abstruse symbolism. The women are filmed in uncompromising "brightness", make-up smashing their features flat, lighting illuminating them. Characters weave in and out as if choreographed. I particularly like the scene where he meets his image of his parents at their mausoleum.

Still, there is not enough sense of a character to the main protagonist. It's all well and good to pin reality on our personal mental associations and ever-changing impressions. At the same time, humans tend to have no connection to people other than interpreting their actions more concretely. Therefore, the film tends to be more personal and less about reaching those who watch it.

Fellini's shiniest gem.
Federico Fellini delivered an excellent and very personal film about how a filmmaker can sometimes be trapped between the people around him, a hard personal life that usually comes with the business and the...
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Fellini's shiniest gem.
Federico Fellini delivered an excellent and very personal film about how a filmmaker can sometimes be trapped between the people around him, a hard personal life that usually comes with the business and the difficulties to sometimes get artistic achievements. Marcello Mastroianni gives an excellent performance mirroring Fellini himself and the direction is excellent, sometimes making this film looks like some kind of ballet. The story is a bit confusing at first, making a little bit harder for the viewer what is truth and what's fantasy, but when you understand, you're rewarded. One of the best films of all time.
100/100.