Frederico Fellini's 8 ½: one of the first foreign films I ever viewed. The impact it had upon me is, perhaps, immeasurable. I still struggle to understand it; to make sense of its many symbolic intricacies and nuances. Thus far, I am only prepared to say this: 8 ½ is, without doubt, a film brilliant in the way that it is aware of itself; aware of the role of the filmmaker and, in ways, aware of the particular filmmaker himself: Frederico Fellini. I believe a major theme to be found in 8 ½ is the idea that cinema, its subject and the filmmaker are often times inseparable. The cinematography and mise-en-scene, in particular, contribute to these thematic statements as the narrative unfolds. .
The first ten minutes of 8 ½, alone, is fraught with material worthy of hundreds of pages of analysis and interpretation. I remember my first viewing of the opening: I knew I was watching something electrical; the images and camera movements seemed so dynamic, so carefully, perfectly and thoughtfully executed that I found it impossible to take my eyes off the screen. The imagery was enigmatic, seemingly inscrutable, but the mystery made me all the more captivated. The only background information necessary to impart is the fact that Fellini had struggled for quite some time to come up with a concept for his next film. After the tremendous success of La Dolce Vita, Fellini felt the pressure of the world upon him as his next project was eagerly anticipated by all. This is important because, as was stated earlier, 8 ½ is very much so aware of its artist "unusually so. The film opens in a traffic jam, where the protagonist, Guido, is trapped in his car amongst a sea of vehicles. The mise-en-scene here enforces a theme of the artist feeling trapped: everything is piled upon each other, the cars have barely an inch between them, relaying an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia. 8 ½ is filmed in black and white.
This film is a look at Fellini's youth through his own point of view. ... This is how Fellini uses his medium to displays his feelings about his past. Fascism undoubtedly played a tremendous role in young Fellini's life. ... The next example of Fellini's hatred of fascism comes when we get to school. ... It is not hard to read into what Fellini is saying here. ...
This film could have been an autobiography because 8 ½ is about a director, which he is, and there were a lot of flashbacks to the director's childhood. This film gave a lot of insight into a director's world, which I am sure Fellini had experienced. All actors wanted to constantly know what the...
His next film La Strada (1954) drove Fellini into a direction of unorthodox neorealism. ... By 1963, Federico Fellini had made, by his count, seven and a half films. So when Federico Fellini made this next film, he called it 8 ½. ... "Fellini moved directly into the world of self-reflexive fantasy. ... Like Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni began his career as a neorealist. ...
Three such auteurs are Frederico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, and Alfred Hitchcock, and it will be effective to discuss these particular directors work. ... After watching Fellini's films La Dolce Vita, 8-1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, La Strada, and City of Women certain characteristics are noticeable. ... The second character type that important to Fellini in several of his films is the wife. ... The final character archetype that is found in Fellini's films is the "macho man." ... Surely when one watches any Fellini film, there is a definite look and feel to the movie, making Fellini ...
We all use spoken word in conjunction with body language to communicate with others. Language is at the core of every relationship. Language is the key to all human evolution, without it there would be no form of communication. Language is the highest form of thought expression. Language shapes our ...
"The subject of neo-realism film is the world; not the story or narrative. It contains no preconceived thesis, because ideas are born in the film from the subject." This was said by one of the founding fathers of the cinematic Neorealistic movement, Roberto Rossellini. Neorealism was a movemen...
The Italian Neo-realism movement came to fruition after the fall of Mussolini's Fascist government, near the end of World War II. The years of war and dictatorial leadership had caused the Italian film industry, much like the Italian economy, to decline. During this time 25% of the Italian populatio...
The Italian Neo-realism movement came to fruition after the fall of Mussolini's Fascist government, near the end of World War II. The years of war and dictatorial leadership had caused the Italian film industry, much like the Italian economy, to decline. During this time 25% of the Italian populatio...
Graham Greene once said," every artist has a splinter of ice in his heart." In other words Greene is claiming that every artist has some bitterness in his heart that is portrayed through his art. The author of the Chaucer in Rome, John Guare best exemplifies this concept in his own work. Gua...
