8½ (1963, Federico Fellini)

"All the confusion of my life… has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I’d like to be."  Guido Anselmi

Arguably the greatest Italian director, Federico Fellini has graced us with an array of masterful work spanning over 40 years. Prior to this, he had given us La Dolce Vita, a film which no one thought he could top. Three years later he replied with his pièce de résistance, 8½.

The title, to which many were quite baffled by at the time, is subsequent to the number of films Fellini had directed to date, with the ½ representing this film whilst struggling to complete it.  Which bring us to our protagonist, Guido Anselmi played wonderfully by Marcello Mastroianni (clearly based on Fellini himself) whom we are immediately introduced to in one of the most incredible and riveting opening scenes I have ever witnessed.

The opening 3 minute nightmare is that of pure Fellinesque surrealism with a real sense of asphyxiation, a nightmare ending with Guido floating though the sky only to be roped down by his peers. As he appears to be falling to his death, he is awaken in fear, only to be surrounded once again by his peers and bombarded with a parade of endless questions on his next film. Guido who currently is suffering from director’s block is majorly stalling on his new science fiction film as his life slowly spirals down. We see him reminiscing on his childhood, his parents (as they show their disapproval of his apparent lifestyle) and most of all, the women he’s had in his life.



Whilst in the 'real world', we witness what may be one of the most honest visions of a director under pressure, struggling to make a follow up film once at the top. We have producers constantly chasing, cast members complaining, critics rambling on and on, simply adding on to the director’s immense pressure. In the midst of all this we see Guido drifting into his dream like states, whilst attempting yet failing miserably to juggle relationships with a wife he cannot communicate with, a mistress which he simply uses to feed his lust and possibly other women whom he has "cast" for a "role" simply for an affair.  However his wife is not as naive as he thinks, and Guido cannot keep up with his own lies.

The film is filled with gorgeous photography and the lighting is like something out of Citizen Kane or a Josef von Sternberg film, most notably in the dreamlike scenes.  These usually occur when Guido is under severe pressure or in an un-comfortable position, which seem to serve as a sort of mental escape route.

These surrealistic scenes are so rich in essence we get a real sense as to what Guido is longing for. In fact, it’s said that Fellini himself had began taking notes of his own dreams, which he used as raw material for his films, which is quite evident in his films, especially here.



You may not have seen this film, yet you may still get that sense of familiarity. It has been an endless source influence and inspiration to a fountain of directors, with films like Day of Night, All That Jazz, Brazil, Synecdoche, New York all paying tribute to this film, even Quentin Tarantino went so fare as to pay homage to the dance routine for his dance sequence in Pulp Fiction.  Even the great Martin Scorsese once said "I have always felt that Peeping Tom and 8½ say everything that can be said about filmmaking, about the process of dealing with film, the objectivity and subjectivity of it and the confusion between the two."

This is a film in which my appreciation only grows with each and every viewing. It is a film to be studied, analysed but most of all, cherished. It’s just pure cinema magic!

Rating: A+

Click here for a trailer