A different way of telling a story

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The first must-see film of the year.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I have to admit that my love of movies has always allowed me to endure those which demand a lot of me. When I watched my first Fellini movies, I have to admit I was confused. I was young and they were intimidating. And, yes, there were a lot of pretentious people around, acting as if they understood every second. What films like "8 1/2" did for me was to stretch my own thoughts and intellectual being. Those of you who write such angry commentary on movies thought to be classics by the vast majority critics seem to think that Fellini was making art so people could sit around pontificating. To give this a one out of ten shows a kind of petulance and childishness. It simply shows that you have disdain for people that don't agree with you, not with the director or his product. It would be like disliking "Ghandi" because people who see it sit around with their friends and pretend to be compassionate. There are numerous parts of this film that are very accessible and gripping. Fellini was attempting to show how difficult it is to make films that give us the soul of the director.

A movie with no story. A full immersion into the memories and the psychological face of the director. The great idea is that Fellini after the success of "La Dolce Vita" didn't know what to do. So he made a movie talking about a Director who has a lack of inspiration. After that we can appreciate the surreal scenes from the beginning to the end. This is one of my favourite movie, even if there isn't a specific reason. I dislike the character of Mastroianni, the typical snooty Italian intellectual, but the way Fellini, directs the dreams is so gorgeous. I think he is inspired of the Welles's way of moving the camera. Cinema of the Dream, from Bergam to Lynch, from Chaplin to Antonioni, this is one of the best example.

I found this film to be an emotional roller-coaster ride. Many things are being said about the opening sequence. Terry Gilliam claims it to be the most important film sequence in his life, and I can see why. Like the overture of an opera, it captures all the conflict and all the drama that is laid out through the rest of the film. It grabs you and will not let you go anymore.It wasn't possible for me to sit through the first viewing, because I was too repulsed by all the sociable chatter in the first half of the film. I got the point Fellini wanted to make (I think), but I still couldn't take it. But the opening sequence was so incredible, that I decided to continue watching the film where I had last stopped. What I got was like a hot and cold shower.Alternating between the chaos and the madness that Guido's life is, and calm, isolated settings, the film comes at us like waves. In his more introspect moments, Guido is usually talking to a female character, and it is here that his visions and his demons are revealed to us. The way he opens up to his sister beneath the spaceship scaffolding reminds of the struggle of an artist who tries to create something personal which he beliefs will not only lift himself above everything, but others, too. His more stable sister just laughs at his pathos and self-pity.We also meet him as the egocentric, irresponsible character that he is. He discards women that do not physically attract him anymore with the strictness of a World War II general. Claudia Cardinale, his muse, confronts him with the sobering fact that he does not know how to love.It all culminates in a press conference that Guido is forced to attend because his producer is putting the pressure on him. Facing the whirlwind of questions from the reporters, and having no answers, he decides to escape by crawling beneath the table and shoot himself. Whether it is fantasy or reality, we don't know, and it doesn't seem important. The movie ends on an up because Guido somehow manages to find a way out of his isolation and to embrace the people, characters and collaborators that accompany and form his life.A very personal film. I think the opening sequence will be a good indicator whether you will relate to it or not.

Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is a famed film director struggling with his next film. His high-maintenance wife Luisa (Anouk Aimée) comes to visit him at the quiet spa town. He is haunted by surreal dreams, memories, fantasies, and the many women of his life. Claudia (Claudia Cardinale) is his movie starlet. He flails to film a sci-fi movie building giant scaffoldings for a grand scene.This is a wondrously imaginative rambling mess. Fellini is indulging in some self-examinations. Marcello Mastroianni is sophistication personified. I've seen this a couple of times. As a plot, I want him to get the film made. It's frustrating to keep going on detours getting nowhere in the filming. As individual vignettes, they are great to be dissected. There are some terrific surrealism. Taken as a whole, it left me in awe, dizzy, confused and a little frustrated.