= 4 stars

Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee, Claudia Cardinale
Directed by Federico Fellini

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There are people whose lives are infinitely interesting, but they’re so jaded everything seems to them the same. Bored of everything, escape is sought. In 8 1/2, Italian director Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) is one of these people: surrounded by eccentric actors, actresses, and producers, he’s under constant pressure to direct his next film masterpiece, but his heart isn’t in it, and he wants out.

The term “Felliniesque” refers to surreal, bizarre characters and 8 1/2 is a perfect example. We’re treated to a parade of senior citizens at a mineral water spring to the tune of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkiries, brooding mistress Gloria (Barbara Steele) complaining about bees sucking the life out of flowers, and an eccentric producer that over-analyzes the script at every turn, driving Guido to exasperated boredom. Fellini’s colorful characters are like the urban denizens in the most liberal and cosmopolitan neighborhoods, and celebrate the variety and comedy of life’s iconoclasts.

Guido doesn’t want to make his next film. He repeatedly sneaks off and avoids the producers, actors, and actresses eager to participate in it. Nobody knows his script is not yet written. Everyone holes up in a local hotel waiting for his direction. The stress of the impending movie production affects the characters in different ways. Some become angry, others insane with stress. The director becomes progressively more introspective and withdrawn.

Through Guido we see life through a director’s eyes: producers are whiny, complaining old men barking out nonsensical orders, and actresses are pouty, self-absorbed, unintelligent muses. Yet the director himself is not above distasteful habits - he has a voyeur’s fantasy life, obsessed with appearance and objectifying women. The film suggests that this may be the result of spending so much time staring at beautiful women through a camera lens.

The stress of the movie production results in Guido finding solace in flashback fantasies to his childhood, surreal dreams, and confrontational nightmares. They are more literally, shifts from reality to surrealist fantasy. Some sequences recall Dali paintings. At times, it seems 8 1/2 is less about characters and plot than a series of powerfully surreal, visual vignettes. My favorites are young Gloria dancing among senior citizens over musical changes, the opening flying-over-traffic sequence, and “harem” scene where all the film’s females live in a house together only to serve Guido’s perverse desire for control.

All these surreal sequences contribute insight into the director’s mind, who is expected to be a leader, emotional crutch, and artist who must say something “meaningful.” Being all these things is difficult if not impossible, and inevitably affects a director deals with life outside of making films. This particular director, while off-set, comes off as a voyeuristic, perverted control freak.

About midway through, Guido’s wife Luisa (Anouk Aimee) visits the location. With a hanging cigarette and dusky smoldering beneath spectacles, her bookish presence serves to balance the film’s previous frivolity. She forces Guido to deal with the touchy subjects of his mistress, the state of their marriage, and ultimately his purpose in life.

The film within a film concept is fascinating. At several points, characters discuss the film Guido is making, and the movie 8 1/2 demonstrates those exact concepts. A catholic representative complains that cinema mixes sexual and religious subjects too frequently, and the film segues into a surreal sex dance on a beach, after which a young Guido is shamed and humiliated by authority figures at his Catholic school. A producer complains that Guido’s film is nothing more than a series of unrelated avant-garde episodes, which applies to 8 1/2 itself. Guido tells a hopeful actress “There’s not much of a part for you” and if you remember carefully, the actress only has a small cameo as a water-server.

Lastly, I was most impressed by Fellini’s technique of blending wide backgrounds with characters in the foreground. Many scenes are beautifully shot and speak of a knowing control to make subtle points. There’s a great scene that contains the back of the director’s head in close up foreground, with an actress in the middle, and another far in the background beside a piano. In a single shot, the hierarchy of these characters is established, with the background characters literally sprouting from the director’s mind.

And in essence, is that not how many directors see themselves? Their faces are rarely shown, yet without their imaginations, there are no actors and no films.

IMDB: 8 1/2
Wikipedia: 8 1/2
Rotten Tomatoes: 8 1/2 100%

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Categories: 4 Star Movies, Movies :: Tags: 4 stars, Anouk Aimee, Claudia Cardinale, Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni :: Trackback URL
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