The single image of his leg with the rope being tugged and then the fall.... never for all the CGI and surrealist effects in countless films.... NEVER has the actual sensation of a nightmare been more exquisitely captured.
Around 2008 there was a theater in Taichung, Taiwan called 8 1/2. It was, I think, an old hotel that a guy bought and turned into his home for his wife and, I think, two kids. Upstairs there was a small room with thousands of DVD's. You'd go in there if you hadn't come to see something specific. If you knew what you wanted, you just told the owner straight off. He had the long bangs of an artist and was very affable. He gave the impression of someone who loved movies so much that everything his life had bent itself to his passion. He offered you your choice of a complimentary coffee, tea, soda, beer, or mixed drink. Then he led you down into a tiny, dingy, moldy basement that had maybe 20 chairs and a screen about 1/4 the size of a standard screen but took up the entire wall. Essentially, every showing was private. I went there twice, once with a friend, and once with a date. Even though the theater room was grimy, it made me happy that such a beautiful place existed in the 21st century. I wonder if it's still there. Doesn't seem likely, I'm sorry to say.
That opening is so beautifully symbolic. A film director who has creative block and is suffocating in his car. He then escapes into the air and is pulled own to life by his assistants.
In my opinion... this opening scene is the best part of the whole movie. Not to say I disliked the movie, but this scene makes such an impression. At first, I thought something was wrong with the sound... no music, no sound effects at all for the first minute. And all those frozen faces staring at this man trapped in his car, panicking... It's not very long but it's such a tense scene. Like a nightmare caught on film.
Maybe the best movie about movies ever made. Fellini packs more amazing imagery in the first three minutes than most filmmakers manage in entire movies, and still the remaining two plus hours don't disappoint.
I watched this film last night, and I'm at a loss for words. This film is incredible. Captivating from start to finish. Ground-breaking, unique, unparalleled. Bravo, Federico Fellini!
By Alexander Sesonske - JAN 12, 2010 8½: A Film with Itself as Its Subject 8½: a bizarre and puzzling title, but one precisely appropriate for this film, which announces in its first frame that modernism has reached the cinema. 2:13 By 1963, Federico Fellini had made, by his count, seven and a half films. Hence 8 ½ is like an opus number: this is film number eight and a half in the Fellini catalog. Source: Criterion
After WW II, filmmaking resources were scarce and Italian neorealist filmmakers began shooting without sound and dubbed it in during post-production. By the time Fellini shot 8 1/2, neither technology nor production costs prevented him from recording synchronized sound--it just wasn't the way he and Italian filmmakers were making film at the time. It was definitely a choice he made.
It is really a bit funny, as I always can spot an italian film, within seconds just by the bad syncing of lips and sound. It is still is a mystery why they do this.
When I made my film I dubbed everything in post Fellini style. The whole film was kind of a little nod to Italian neo-realism but I sincerely preferred slightly imperfect audio-to-video sync but with good quality sounds over amateur audio quality with on-set audio. Especially on a budget.
P. Kubala and the gods: Tarkovsky, Tarr, Bresson and Mizoguchi. Also Teshigahara, Antonioni, Fassbinder, Malick, etc. Lynch doesn't come close to any of them.
I’ve seen this and other Fellini masterworks numerous times over the past quarter century. I think this is the first time that I realized that in the opening of 8 1/2, Marcello flies though the sky and in the feature film immediately preceding it (“La Dolce Vita”), a statue of Christ flies through the sky on a helicopter. That continuity hadn’t occurred to me.
Its sad that with all the Technology and Techniques ,Ideas n Philosophy ,the new generation of Directors who studied at universities how to make movies ,cant come up with a jaw dropping short movie like these 3 minutes.
For some reason, Fellini's aesthetic sense always makes me think of another Italian grandmaster- Caravaggio. I suppose the short way of putting it might be: stark magical realism. Please don't be offended if that conflicts with your favorite theories, film and art buffs.
Wow. Never seen the film but MUST now. Really perceptive Caravaggio comparison. As soon as I read your post I made the mental link to the raised arm in the last shot to The Conversion of St. Paul by Caravaggio. Having found that painting again the likeness is almost exact!
If in the future, some kind of new tech can download a nightmare from the memory of a person's mind, this video serves as a demo of what it would be like.
My car broke down one day and I realized how alone we are surrounded by millions of people. The insurance company wouldn't respond for my roadside assistance plan and enterprise failed to pick me up twice.
Director Federico Fellini has long been one of Italy’s most important gifts to the world of cinema. A daring and proficient filmmaker, Fellini had a career that featured various stages of evolution. Most notably was his turn from popular Italian neorealism to an almost surreal fantasy mode of cinematic storytelling. [Keith and the Movies]
“8 1/2” is a semi-autobiographical film that gets its name from the eight and a half feature films and shorts Fellini had made up to that point. For the first time in his life Fellini was experiencing a creative stall. His struggles with director’s block inspired him to start over and make a film about a prominent Italian director laboring through the same creative pains. Trusted actor and friend Marcello Mastroianni would play the lead role of Guido Anselmi who is an undeniable reflection of Fellini with a few added dramatic twists. [Keith and the Movies]
As usual, great art lets us write in part of the narrative for ourselves. To me, this is about mental illness. To someone else, it would be the angst of an aging man losing his cherished self-image. Or it could also be a metaphor for fame or notoriety. All those people staring at you....staring in fascination... but not one of them sees the trapped man as a human being like them. Trapped in car/coffin and flying in the clouds, held to earth by a thin tether. I wonder what a Kardashian would think of this... no actually, I don't wonder- I just wanted an anticlimax. It's fun to see that no one who would thumb this down has come here as of 43,036 views. 267-0 is something I don't often see.
To say that art is something you can just impose whatever meaning you want onto it just sounds intellectually lazy. There SHOULD be a right and wrong way to view a piece of art because otherwise, it just sounds like there was no artistic meaning to it in the first place as intended by the author and every interpretation comes off meaningless that way.
I respectfully disagree. You could view it the other way around and consider the ambiguity in the imagery and the themes as a testament to the author's talent for raising questions and making his audience think about what they have just seen. Sure, this leads to interpretations deviating more or less from the author's original intent but what if that intent was precisely to put the public into a dream-like state of wonder and confusion? To offer them a glance of what is going on in his mind?
Real art is never singular, that’s what makes it true, honest, and great. It should have the ability to capture, and personify, all our dreams and nightmares, as if it was speaking directly to “your” soul now and forever, from the beginning until the end. Everyone has a story to tell and real art allows that story to be acknowledged
This was incredible. I watched my first Criterion movies back in late highschool (2000-2002), and 8 1/2 was one of my favorites. I was just getting into foreign films, and this blew me away. I will especially never forget the scene with the large dancing prostitute that lives by the sea. This film is unforgettable, and please post more!
I have said for years that this was one of my favorite movies, yet I have not seen it in decades. I must certainly watch it again, for it is still one of my favorites. Yes, the first three minutes are a grabber, but there are many wonderful things in the rest of the movie.
Perhaps the best depiction of mid-life crisis on celluloid - the feeling that your life and career are stuck, that suffocating feeling and the fact that only you can extricate you from this situation - everyone is just a bystander.
I think this intro sorta serves as the thesis of the film, his descent into madness while other simply watch or try to keep him grounded. I'm still trying to understand how the falling sequence was shot
parallel between this and how he's treated by everyone involved in the production of the film. it all rests on him. no outside assistance when it comes to the creation, but the moment he tries to back out, he's roped right back in by the same people. no escape.
Fellini was a Genius Filmmaker! This is considered one of his best but I prefer La Dolce Vita and Satyricon! La Dolce Vita is about the Decadent lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Rome at the time and Satyricon is like a Waking dream or Nightmare from Ancient Rome! And about the Pagan lifestyles of PreChristian Rome! A Stunning achievement! The images are amazing and how he made one scene and then the camera goes to another scene is unbelievable how he captured this in one flowing shot so many strange scenes and yet you can’t help following the two buddies in the film and the crazy journey they go through in decadent Ancient Rome! I was amazed by what Fellini was showing! It was like living Theatre! Unreal! A Glimpse into Rome’s past. All those lives lived out before Christ in Pagan times. I just kept saying to myself this is Human Nature on display for everyone to see both good and bad. And La Dolce Vita (the Sweet Life) is like going to an Italian Party all night in Rome and all the Rituals and traditions in Italy at the time. In this film, you follow the brilliant Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni! He is the leading man and his internal dialogue carries the entire film. At the end you are exhausted and feel like you’ve gone to a Roman party and stayed out all night. Wild nightlife they used to have or maybe still do! Both are intimate and brilliant films that draw you into their world captured forever. Fellini is gone now sadly but his film legacy is forever. I would just like to talk to him for a couple of hours and ask questions about these two films. Stunning Cinematic Achievements! These two films really show you that Cinema is a completely different art form from Paintings or music. It’s a lot like music in that it flows but it’s like Visual Poetry in Motion. Amazing!
Though it's not too late, I feel I've missed out by not yet watching this film. Just these 3 minutes alone really grabbed me, stirred my imagination as to what exactly was going on. It felt so sinister and yet symbolic. I'm now sold that I must watch this.
She's a static camera bore in a state of insipid ennui and self pity. Try some Lila Cavani, Lena Wertmuller even the pornographic lunacy of Doris Wishman shows more than her cinema of the banal.
I love old black and white movies I watch them everyday but I'am a bigger motor head and absolutely loved the beginning of the film DID YOU SEE ALL THEM SWEET BEAUTIFUL CARS ! Was my favorite part of the movie haha way kool thanks for sharing I will definately watch the rest of them Italian films are very kool👍
I like the way his hand guides the camera when he picks up the rag and wipes the window for the camera to see through it. Is the anxiety from realizing he is being seen himself when he looks through to see other people? I think so.
On January 20th, 1920, one of the greatest filmmakers was born in Italy. With legendary films such as La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, and so much more. There is only that one film that I think every aspiring filmmaker should watch is his 1963 masterpiece, 8 1/2 (1963). Who is this filmmaker? His name was Federico Fellini, who is 100 years old.
LOL, reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad was driving us through the Lincoln Tunnel on a really hot day and I passed out due to the exhaust fumes and heat. Yeah, I know how that guy felt.
Any movie with the young Claudia Cardinale gets a thumbs up from me. The fact that this film is a classic is a bonus. There are no real Fellinis, Bergman's or even a Lina Wertmuller out there today. There are some that emulate but none that approach their intense originality.
Engraçado como ficava tímida ao cantar pra ele, mas cantava sem parar sozinha, hj canto pra quem quiser e quando quero e assim, voando, tenho cantado cada vez mais. Antes, a Vida era tão. ... Isso.
My theory on what the movie is about. Keep in mind, it could contain spoilers so don't press view the reply button if you haven't seen it. Keep in mind it's nothing more than a theory and if you disagree that's fine, but this is why I love this film. Anyway, press view reply if you've seen it.
I believe this movie is about the director (Guido) who died in some sort of car crash or something car related which is why the whole world stop except for Guido. A force is taken him to some sort of afterlife. Then if that doesn't make it clear, the next shot shows Guido as some sort of kite and falls down. It looks like water but it could be a portal to an afterlife. Later on, we see as if Guido is fine, but perhaps he doesn't know. I like to think God or the Devil or something like that is giving him a chance to create a film that Guido never made. This is perhaps why we see these wacky situations such as parades and shit like that. I also like to think that the people that Guido knew or knew him are just demons or angels in form. Again, I know it could be a stretch but based on that opening scene that's what I feel. It's worthing that this is one of David Lynch's favorite films and he often references. Given his style of filmmaking where it's all fantasy or things that doesn't make sense, I won't be surprised if Lynch felt that way too.
Michael Newton - 29 Nov 2017 Fellini’s 8½ - a masterpiece by cinema’s ultimate dreamer In his black and white movies, that almost unparalleled run of masterpieces from The White Sheik (1952) to 8½ (1963), Fellini stands as the Charles Dickens of cinema. As with Dickens, critics find him sentimental, exaggerated and chaotic. 1:11 Source: The Guardian
My favorite film. It’s meta before meta was a thing. It’s magical realism perfected in a totally different era so it’s super informative. It pulls no punches. Its romantic, it’s raw, it has no heroes.