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A scene in [[Paul McGuigan]]'s ''[[Wicker Park]]'', when Lisa ([[Diane Kruger]]) tells Matthew ([[Josh Hartnett]]) that her shoe size is 8½, Matthew responds, "Like Fellini." The film itself is similar to ''8½'' in its use of non-linear narrative. |
A scene in [[Paul McGuigan]]'s ''[[Wicker Park]]'', when Lisa ([[Diane Kruger]]) tells Matthew ([[Josh Hartnett]]) that her shoe size is 8½, Matthew responds, "Like Fellini." The film itself is similar to ''8½'' in its use of non-linear narrative. |
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In [[Terry Zwigoff]] and [[Daniel Clowes]]'s ''[[Ghost World]]'', in a sterile [[Blockbuster (movie rental store)|Blockbuster]]esque video store ironically named "Masterpiece Video" the clerk is approached by a customer (played by Daniel Graves) who requests a copy of ''8½''. Befuddled, the clerk asks if it is a new release. The customer informs him that it is a classic. The clerk obliges and starts a search on the store's computer. Confidently, the clerk says, "Yes. Here it is. ''[[9½ Weeks]]'' with [[Mickey Rourke]]. It is located in the |
In [[Terry Zwigoff]] and [[Daniel Clowes]]'s ''[[Ghost World]]'', in a sterile [[Blockbuster (movie rental store)|Blockbuster]]esque video store ironically named "Masterpiece Video" the clerk is approached by a customer (played by Daniel Graves) who requests a copy of ''8½''. Befuddled, the clerk asks if it is a new release. The customer informs him that it is a classic. The clerk obliges and starts a search on the store's computer. Confidently, the clerk says, "Yes. Here it is. ''[[9½ Weeks]]'' with [[Mickey Rourke]]. It is located in the 'erotic drama' section." The clerk smiles pleasantly. The stunned customer corrects him. "''8½'' not ''9½''! The Fellini film." The clerk stares blankly. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 19:18, 30 January 2007
| 8½ | |
|---|---|
 Original movie poster | |
| Directed by | Federico Fellini |
| Written by | Federico Fellini (story) Ennio Flaiano (story) Ennio Flaiano (screenplay) Tullio Pinelli (screenplay) Federico Fellini (screenplay) Brunello Rondi (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Angelo Rizzoli |
| Starring | Marcello Mastroianni Claudia Cardinale Anouk Aimée Sandra Milo |
| Cinematography | Gianni Di Venanzo |
| Edited by | Leo Cattozzo |
| Music by | Nino Rota |
Release dates |  February 14, 1963 25 June, 1963 |
Running time | 138 min. |
| Language | Italian / English / French / German |
8½ (Italian: Otto e Mezzo) is a 1963 film written and directed by Italian director Federico Fellini. It is regularly acclaimed by film critics as one of the finest films ever made; in a recent poll of film directors conducted by the British Film Institute, 8½ was ranked 3rd best film of all time.[1] The film was shot in black-and-white by influential and innovative cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo, and features a soundtrack by Nino Rota.
Synopsis
The plot revolves around an Italian film director, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), who is suffering from 'director's block'. He is supposed to be directing a science fiction film but has lost interest amid his marital difficulties. As Guido struggles half-heartedly to work on the film, a series of flashbacks and dreams delve into his memories and fantasies; they are frequently interwoven and confused with reality.
Themes
8½ is about the struggles involved in the creative process, both technical and personal, and the problems artists face when expected to deliver something personal and profound with a large public watching, on a very set schedule – while all the while simultaneously having to deal with their own personal relationships. It is in a larger sense about finding true personal happiness in a difficult, fragmented life.
Autobiographical elements
8½ is highly autobiographical: Fellini made the film because he himself was suffering director's block; the character of Guido (played by Mastroianni, whom Fellini often used to mirror himself in his films) is a representation of himself and many of Guido's memories are based on Fellini's own. Because of this, 8½ is a recursive film: a film about the creation of itself.
Fellini did not originally intend the film to be so obviously autobiographical. According to screenwriter Tullio Kezich, in original script Guido was a writer who could not finish his novel. However, when Fellini found out that Marcello Mastroianni had just played a writer in Michelangelo Antonioni’s La Notte, he changed the character into a movie director, saying, "How am I going to ask Marcello to play a writer again? He’ll end up believing he’s one and he’ll write a novel."[citation needed]
The title refers to the total number of films Fellini had previously directed: six films plus three collaborations (one of them, Boccaccio '70, counted as half a film as it was a short segment), making this production number 8½. Its working title was La Bella Confusione (The Beautiful Confusion).
Four years after completing 8½, life imitated art. Fellini's producer, Dino de Laurentiis, had invested in an expensive replica of Cologne Cathedral and other huge sets that had been built in Cinecittà for Fellini's film Il viaggio di G. Mastorna. Fellini then informed de Laurentiis that he would not finish the film. De Laurentiis was furious, much like the producer in 8½.
Production
During production, Fellini handwrote a note to himself and attached it to the camera below the viewfinder so that he would constantly see it when filming. It read, "Ricordati che è un film comico." ("Remember, this is a comedy.").
As with most Italian films of this period, the sound was entirely dubbed in afterwards, including the dialogue. Claudia Cardinale was dubbed by another actress because she had a regional accent.[citation needed] The dubbing also caused a mistake: when Marcello Mastroianni is waiting at the station and Sandra Milo's train is heard arriving off-screen, we hear the whistling of a steam train, but when it finally appears, the train is being hauled by a diesel locomotive.
Awards
2 Academy Award wins: Award for Best Foreign Film and Best Costume Design (Black and White).
3 other Academy Award nominations: Best Director, Best Original Story and Screenplay, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White).
The film won all of the seven awards it was nominated for at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.
The film won the top award of the Moscow Film Festival.
8½ is a fixture on the prestigious Sight & Sound critics' and directors' polls of the top ten films ever made. It ranks number three on the magazine's "Directors' Top Ten Poll", and number nine on the "Critics' Top Ten Poll", from 2002.[2]
Influence
The musical Nine and the Canadian television series More Tears are both based on 8½ [citation needed].
The movie Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, has some thematic parallels to 8½ and also features music from the film.
Peter Greenaway's 8½ Women is a nod to Fellini's film. Woody Allen's Stardust Memories and Deconstructing Harry are modeled on 8½ [citation needed], as is Bob Fosse's All That Jazz.
A scene in Paul McGuigan's Wicker Park, when Lisa (Diane Kruger) tells Matthew (Josh Hartnett) that her shoe size is 8½, Matthew responds, "Like Fellini." The film itself is similar to 8½ in its use of non-linear narrative.
In Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes's Ghost World, in a sterile Blockbusteresque video store ironically named "Masterpiece Video" the clerk is approached by a customer (played by Daniel Graves) who requests a copy of 8½. Befuddled, the clerk asks if it is a new release. The customer informs him that it is a classic. The clerk obliges and starts a search on the store's computer. Confidently, the clerk says, "Yes. Here it is. 9½ Weeks with Mickey Rourke. It is located in the 'erotic drama' section." The clerk smiles pleasantly. The stunned customer corrects him. "8½ not 9½! The Fellini film." The clerk stares blankly.
External links
- The collection of the Museum of Modern Art: Federico Fellini. 8½
- 8½ at IMDb
- Criterion Collection essay by Federico Fellini
- Criterion Collection essay by Tullio Kezich
- Criterion Collection essay by Alexander Sesonske
- Another Criterion Collection essay by Federico Fellini
- In depth review of film and influences