FilmRoar

Much has been written about Federico Fellini’s Neo-Realistic classic 8½ (1963) by better men than me. Rather than bore you with another pseudo-intellectual analysis of the surrealistic film I will direct you to some of the plethora of professional reviews and share some of my personal impressions.

I remember the first time I saw this movie. I must have been about 12 years old and got it a video store with my dad who loves Italian Cinema. I had a hard time concentrating on the movie and was at numerous times tempted to fall asleep. I remember that even though the black and white movie seemed boring and hard to follow it also had an undeniable charm that made me wish I knew more about the codex so I could understand it better. Now, almost twenty years later seeing the movie again (this time in a film class with the benefit of a great introduction from a film professor) I found myself re-living the experience of my childhood. With the benefit of more maturity, a year of film studies and a lot more movies under my belt I think I ‘got’ a lot more of what Fellini was trying to convey but still had a hard time keeping my attention on the screen, and thinking through the layer of what is being presented down to the meaning.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the movie greatly. Marcello Mastroianni is a masterful actor and fills his character with life and complexity. I have great regard for any director with the moxy to intersperse his narrative with fantasy and dream sequences and get away with it. I specially enjoy the Harem fantasy, which lightly pokes fun at the desire of men to be loved and in control, not by any means of exaggeration but through a brutal honesty that is at times disturbing. I definitely recommend 8½ to anyone interested in the art of cinema. After you watch it though, you may want to do some reading to help you figure out what just happened.