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8 1/2 - Criterion Collection

Best Price: $39.95

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Editorial Reviews
Description

One of the greatest films about film ever made, Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (Otto e Mezzo) turns one man's artistic crisis into a grand epic of the cinema. Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is a director whose film-and life-is collapsing around him. An early working title for the film was La Bella Confusione (The Beautiful Confusion), and Fellini's masterpiece is exactly that: a shimmering dream, a circus, and a magic act. The Criterion Collection is proud to present the 1963 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign-Language Film-one of the most written about, talked about, and imitated movies of all time-in a beautifully restored new digital transfer. Disc two features Fellini's rarely seen first film for television, Fellini: A Director's Notebook (1969). Produced by Peter Goldfarb, this imagined documentary of Fellini is a kaleidoscope of unfinished projects, all of which provide a fascinating and candid window into the director's unique and creative process.

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Federico Fellini's 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration is still a mesmerizing mystery tour that has been quoted (Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland) but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyperreal imagery, dreamy sidebars, and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

TheoGnostus Said: Preying on the mind of the viewer ( Oct. 12th 2009 )

"Unless Fellini's problem has been preying on the mind of the viewer, he may not care to take on the director's doubts and confusions." TIME Magazine Like all Frederico Fellini's shallow, hypocritical 'masterworks', may be with the exception of Quinn's la Strada, this film lacks a definitive plot or narrative structure. It is even more difficult to approach, largely because of his controversial complex reputation. Some critics also state that the film is so complicated that it requires repeated viewing to unclue, which is likely to intimidate even more viewers, than those who read the back-boneless critics. But it seems to me, in spite of its pretentious surrealistic air, an early prophecy of a serious dementia that Fellini preached, without a glimmer of genuine creativity, extending a false hallucination of Mussolini's Fascism. Top Critic Reviews: "Fellini's flights into the surreal are his self-examination and confession. Alas, unlike Bergman, his confession is without moral rigor; he wants to be indulged, not absolved." Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide

David Lark Said: smoke and clouds of dust as a metaphor for... ( Sep. 24th 2009 )

What are they a metaphor for ? Why the mix of dream time with a concern for things external? looking in on itself...

Michael G. Muccigrosso Said: A Masterpiece ( Jun. 13th 2009 )

I first saw this film over 40 years ago and saw it again about two weeks ago. Not only does it remain fresh today but every time I see it I get new meaning about life from it. The film just keeps giving. An unrivaled gift from Fellini and a true masterpiece

Robert J. Crawford Said: One of the best I've ever seen ( Apr. 17th 2009 )

This is one of the most wonderfully moving films I know. A great creative man has a kind of breakdown - he is not sure that he can continue on, seeking his next project. So he withdraws to a sanatorium, where he attempts to collect himself and rest, so that he can go forward. There you see his entire life unfold before his imagination: his deeply troubled relationship with his wife (incredibly well played by Anouk Aimee, perhaps her greatest role), his crass mistress who revels in the humiliation of his wife, and all the hangers on that surround the truly talented. Then there are his memories, which interweave with reality and are so indistinguishable from it that at times the viewer is uncertain what has really happened. Much of it is bizarre and surrealistic, a collage of the unresolved, the loved, the pressing need, the hope. It is all in Mastroianni's expression, which is impassive yet full. Everything is grotesque yet understated and subtle. He feels besieged, overwhelmed as so many people keep coming at him, and yet he tries to see his way forward. It is that powerful nexus where the creative force, personal crisis, and the demands of his industry collide. Never has it been so well portrayed. It moves me to tears every time I see it. Recommended with the greatest enthusiasm.

Stuart Hayes Said: In Praise of Reticence. ( Feb. 28th 2009 )

Notes on 8-1/2: In praise of reticence... Many critics and reviewers mention the "Creative Block" that the character of Guido/Fellini experiences. I don't think that is the case. Rather I believe Guido(Fellini) knows what he can do, and how to do it. What he is actually questioning is whether his next creation, whatever it might, be is worthy of being created at all. Is what he can do, artistically valid? When Guido sarcastically and self-mockingly sings: "I have nothing to say"; then speaks: "But I want to say it anyway." is a telltale not to a creative block, but to a questioning of the legitimacy of his creative spirit at this point in his life. Ultimately his character, comes to the conclusion that it is not worthy of him giving it birth. The alleged "space-ship" is actually Guido's (Fellini's) egoism, nothing more, and all his acquaintances must climb it. I choose not to see it as a phalanx, and find that interpretation to be an over simplification, if not completely unnecessary. Whether 8-1/2 is a cinematic masterpiece is not at issue in my argument. If it, in fact, is a cinematic masterpiece, it was a great work of artistic genius FIRST. I believe these two things can be exclusive of one another. Lean's Lawrence of Arabia is a cinematic masterpiece, but NOT a great work of artistic genius. If you see what I mean. If you look to "Amarcord" (a film that follows 8-1/2 by ten years), you find many of Fellini's so-called memories are congealed into that unmistakable cinematic masterpiece. However the cinematic masterpiece that Amarcord is, is not the great work of genius by a mature artist that 8-1/2 is. Consequently I would recommend Amarcord to anyone, while I would highly recommend 8-1/2 only to a select few. This is not to insinuate that 8-1/2 is an elitist work. Elitism of late and genius, within the last twenty odd years, are two words that have been bandied about to be rendered meaningless. Artist are artist, so they must call themselves, non-artist, as the word has become polluted. Fellini does this in 8-1/2 better than any one I've ever seem.

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