06/04/10 - 8½

8½ (1963, 138 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056801/

I'd wanted to check out this Federico Fellini flick for a while now so it fit my theme of "hodgepodge June" or whatever. I didn't really know what to expect since the descriptions didn't really seem to describe much of the plot but what I had read still intrigued me.

The film follows famed director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) as he is in the works of making a new movie. The movie switches between the reality of the situation and also Guido's dreams and imagination. Serving as the other characters are: Louisa Anselmi (Anouk Aimée), Guido's wife; Carla (Sandra Milo), Guido's mistress; Claudia (Claudia Cardinale), a girl Guido also falls in love with; Pace, il produttore (Guido Alberti), the producer; Rossella (Rossella Falk), a friend of Luisa's; and Guido's friends Mario Mezzabotta (Mario Pisu) and his wife Gloria Morin (Barbara Steele).

First off, I'll caution my saying that this movie was incredibly hard to follow. It seemed that the Italian was spoken really fast, leaving the subtitles to only flash on the screen as I desperately tried to read them and follow along with the film. Really, this isn't a flaw of the movie itself since it was made for Italians and that, but it did make the 138 minute runtime lengthen to probably 150 or so as I was constantly rewinding just a bit here and there to catch everything.

Next, I like all the characters in the film. The movie tries to bridge this gap between realism and fantasy. So, just like in real life, I felt each character really served his or her purpose in a believable way. There were quite a few more characters other than just those I listed above and really many of these third tier characters are all fleshed out at some point and none serve just to advance the movie's themes and that alone. What I mean here is that a character will serve to give the movie's themes (reality, dreams, isolation, etc.) but in a realistic way given his or her character development to that point. I really liked this as it conflicts the already thin line between reality and dreams (which is the focus of the movie anyway).

Seeming to continue my trend of seeing black and white movies this month, this was also shot in black and white. Whereas Double Indemnity and The Third Man created the most tension with the dark shadows, I felt that 8½ created the best parts of its plot via the use of bright whites. 8½ isn't really about suspense and mystery like those other two films so it does follow different rules. I think the reason the whites worked so well is because it fit in more with the themes of dreams. Guido's dreams are almost always quite happy (although there is one suicide dream) since they diametrically oppose what's going on in his real life. Thus, for this happiness, frequent use of white serves better than a strong use of black.

One great scene that I'd like to mention is when Guido is talking with about ten different people all at once about making the movie. He meanders about from person to person while not really saying anything to anyone. You can tell he doesn't want to be there and doesn't want to talk to anyone. I like how this scene is handled as Guido is hilarious as he talks to everyone but is completely uninterested in everything going on around him. This was the best part of the movie for me.

Finally, the whole movie just really captures the whole surreal feeling quite well. This is, of course, at the epicenter of the themes explored and I think Fellini does a great job at bringing it to focus in different ways and letting the viewer give their own interpretation to events. The great example of this is at the end. What really happens and what is a dream? I believe the suicide is real and the big dance number is the final thought of Guido before he died. I think this makes the most sense but I can easily see how another interpretation can be valid.

Overall, I gave this film an 8/10. It's great at bringing up issues and presenting various viewpoints. Then it's up to the viewer to decide. Oh, and as an added bonus just about every female in here is absolutely beautiful.