Fresh off the smashing success of La Dolce Vita, Fellini hit a massive crisis
in the form of “director’s block” – a thing which he captured brilliantly in
the arresting opening (dream) sequence itself of 8 ½, where the
protagonist, Guido (Marcello Mastroianni), is seen stuck in a car amidst a
crazy traffic jam. Fellini took an overtly autobiographical route for this
magnificent venture and possibly his greatest work, and created a grand, deliriously
messy, absurdist, self-referential, modernist and maddening extravaganza which
seamlessly transitioned from the real to the surreal and back, and one of the
most fascinating films on filmmaking itself. Titled so as he’d made 6 feature
films, co-directed a film and made an episode each in 2 anthology films (the
last 3 accounting for half each) – thus making this the his 8 ½-th work, it has
a renowned filmmaker who is beset with his inability to put his next film into
motion. While the bored Guida is stationed at a luxurious hotel in a spa-town,
and is surrounded by a madcap ensemble of oddball characters – his increasingly
frustrated producer, a hilariously biting critic spewing bile on his half-baked
script, a flabbergasted cast awaiting details of their roles, a fawning crowd
of admirers and journalists, his vivacious mistress, his estranged wife (Anouk
Aimée) and an enigmatic woman (Claudio Cardinale) – one also gets intriguing
peeks into his repressed memories, dreams and desires dealing with his Catholic
past, tryst with sexuality, fetishistic desires and encompassing fears.
Accompanied by Nina Rota’s captivating score, fabulous B/W photography, and a
host of dizzying set-pieces and sequences, Fellini filled this blazing
tour-de-force with grotesque imagery, carnivalesque spectacles, self-effacing
humour, and an intensely personal evocation of an artist racked with guilt, doubts
and ennui.
p.s. This is a revisit. My earlier review of the film can be found here.
Director: Federico Fellini
Genre: Psychological Drama/Social Satire/Showbiz Comedy/Avant-Garde
Language: Italian
Country: Italy
