#5: 8 1/2

8 1/2 (Fellini, 1963)

Fellini's most critically praised film is also, among the ones I've seen, his most dense. It's very dialog heavy, it's narrative is very layered, and it requires knowledge of other films at the time. It's also fairly self-referential and self-satirical. The lead character is a filmmaker who's working on a new film. He thinks it's his best, most ingenious work, and everybody around him is trying to drag his ideas down. Throughout the film we see skits from his movie. There's a lot of random confused symbolism, a lot of random scenes from his past, and random criticism of catholic shame, and none of the scenes seem to have any coherent theme between them. To top it off, he's building a big expensive launching pad for a spaceship, because the world is ending and people have to escape.

People around him are talking about him behind his back, criticisms are telling him what's wrong with his ideas, and he's trying not to listen. He's annoyed by them. Later, his wife shows up. There's a character playing his wife in the movie, and it's a very negative one sided portrayal of her. He tries to give a long winded analysis of the character, and his wife as well as other female characters tell him "He just doesn't know how to love". The weight of all the criticism he's been taking in, and now the effect the film is having on his personal life, start to make the film fall apart in his mind. He realizes, he wanted to put everything into the movie, and it ended up having nothing.

There are a lot of little nuances and jokes that could be applied to other Fellini films and other personal struggles he's had making films. The film (Unlike some other films about filmmaking, such as Contempt) has a compelling and interesting narrative, and some very entertaining scenes. But it also serves as an analysis of the culture of art films and a satirical self-portrait of Fellini's film making process. It's not a beginner art film, but it's a very rewarding one for those familiar with Fellini's body of work.

Rating: ***** / 5

69/101

New films:

Get Low: 6/10

Get Low is a film about a man who has lived alone in a secluded cabin for forty years and now wants to throw a funeral party for himself. He tells everyone to come and tell stories about him. But really, everybody only knows him through third hand gossip. What he wants to tell a story of something he did forty years ago that he's been punishing himself for. Robert Duvall plays the lead, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray are in it. The acting is great, and the actors will probably get some oscar nominations they deserve. The problem with the film is the script. It tries too hard to make him loveably quirky, when I would have appreciated a more balanced perspective a bit more. The film will probably get a best picture nomination it doesn't deserve.