Xixax Film Forum

No Fellini threads.. so I'm making one. My favourite Fellini films are "8 1/2", "La Dolce Vita", "Juliet of the Spirits", and "Amarcord." He's another one of those great directors who had to wait until a few months before he died to receive an honourary Oscar. No one like him will ever come around again.

I'm surprised no one responded to this yet! My favorites, too (and most everyone else's) are 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita and Armacord.  The only other ones I've seen are Nights of Cabriria, La Strada and Intervista (which I was disappointed by, actually, but was still a lovely closing note to his career).

I think one of his greatest assets is his love of the people in the films; he's such a  compassionate directorr. This is most obvious in Armacord, which is what I'd reccomend first to anyone who's looking to get into his stuff. Its a really wonderful experience.

I first got into his stuff early in high school, when Tim Burton (my idol at the time) said that he was one of his favorite filmmakers.

"Heaven has quite clearly divided humankind in two: those poor wretches who don't respond to Federico Fellini's work and the rest of blessed us for whom Fellini's best films are part of our memory, our dreams, our wisdom in some measure, and our secret sublimation. The person for whom I Vitelloni and 8 1/2 and Amarcord are not private property has, I and many others would say, suffered the wrong incarnation. He or she would do better to go back and start all over again."

-Film Critic Stanley Kauffmann on Fellini

With the joking that could be brought from that quote, it feels it could only be taken seriously for the artistry of Fellini than anyone else in the movies. The question to whether or not he is a great filmmaker seems already answered. The question to whether or not he is the greatest of filmmaker/artists ever to touch film is the real question. Even though I realize Fellini has made some awful films, especially later in his career, he has given us some of the greatest films, especially his two best that came right after each other and are on my top ten list for best ever made - La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. 8 1/2 represents prolly the most dazzling feat of filmmaking genius I've ever seen. A movie that single handidly divided the history of film into two, by identifying the old film world dominated by studio systems and what a lot of people now identify as the "boring films" and then into the second where film began with roots of an indepedent filmmaking root where the camera can, and usually does come alive. It isn't about what the actors say in front of the camera, but the wonder and mystery of images that are attainable through film. La Dolce Vita represents the grand painting of how diverse in meaning, thought and curiosity to what film can be. No morals are brought upon by the film, but a canvas of a man's life that changes the viewers opinion of him as they grow and age with time. If a movie was ever to dominate the atmosphere of truly evolving with time, then it would be La Dolce Vita.

~rougerum

i think thedream sequence to 81/2 is one of the most wonderful openings in cinema history -- absolutely breathtaking.

I just saw my first Fellini film (8 1/2) yesterday. Guido looked so stylish, even fourty years later.. The ending parade was beautiful. :(

Yeah, its beautiful from beginning to end. Another one of his films I love is "Roma" mostly because I visited Rome and I thought his vision of it was dazzling. A unique piece of art, it was..

<- i fucking love it.

8 1/2 & Amarcord get top vote until I can see La Dolce Vita in better quality. But most underrated, I think, is And The Ship Sails On. A wonderful little movie, thanks goodness for Criterion.... I would never have watched it if they hadn't put it out. It's not his greatest, but somebody said it might be the most accessable Fellini movie.

Anybody going to check out the new doc: "Fellini: I'm A Born Liar"?

Review from Los Angeles Times:

Federico Fellini, unfettered
The documentary 'I'm a Born Liar' is as charming and exasperating as the man himself.

"Fellini: I'm a Born Liar" is a documentary about the celebrated Italian director and what he called "a life spent with light and shadows" that's made with an ambition the maestro himself would have appreciated and approved. For the rest of us, that is largely, but not entirely, a good thing.

Canadian Damian Pettigrew's film centers on 10 hours of interviews he did with Fellini just months before the director's death in 1993. "Born Liar" is both completely fascinating and intermittently frustrating; however, as with Fellini's own films, the downside is far outweighed by the pluses.

One thing that is beyond doubt is Pettigrew's devotion to Fellini, whom he first met in 1983 and pursued for a decade to get the extended interviews, which the director called "the longest and most detailed conversation ever recorded on my personal vision." Then Pettigrew sat on the material for years before he found collaborators willing to finance his vision of how it should be used.

Pettigrew used the intervening time to dig up remarkable visual ephemera. Some of the most intriguing items, like an unnerving baby picture of the great man and candid, 8-millimeter black-and-white footage of the youthful director and star Marcello Mastroianni on the set of "La Dolce Vita," have never been made public before.

Though Mastroianni is unaccountably missing, Pettigrew also interviewed key people in Fellini's life, from actors Terence Stamp and Donald Sutherland to some of the director's old friends and collaborators. Though the actors are recognizable, individuals like Titta Benzi, Rinaldo Geleng and even cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno are not, and the film's overly arty decision not to identify any of the speakers until the final credits is an unnecessary irritant.

This unwarranted insistence that "Born Liar" is, in the press kit's words, "no mere biographical portrait but an energetic philosophical inquiry" leads to another bothersome omission. For though Pettigrew has gone to considerable trouble to shoot contemporary footage of the exact spots where some of the director's classic scenes were filmed, the lack of identifying subtitles make it unclear, except for those who've memorized every frame of Fellini's films, exactly what locales we're revisiting.

Despite these self-imposed obstacles, there's a lot to like about "Born Liar," starting with that comprehensive interview, which reveals Fellini to be an intoxicating conversationalist, articulate, expansive and capable of giving radically different takes on the same subject.

At different points, for instance, Fellini describes a director as "a craftsman who's a medium," "an impostor, clown, general and chief of police" as well as "a creator who always has something of almighty God."

He also claims not to recognize his films once they're finished and talks engagingly of how when he directs "a mysterious invader takes over the whole show.... It's someone else, not me, with whom I coexist, someone I don't know, or know only by hearsay."

Though Fellini claims to have wonderful relationships with his actors, he is immediately contradicted by eye-popping anecdotes from both Stamp ("Toby Dammit") and Sutherland ("Casanova"), the latter calling him "a martinet, a tyrant, a dictator. The first five weeks of shooting were hell on Earth."

Equally intriguing is vintage behind-the-scenes footage showing Fellini in the act of directing. For a sequence in "Amarcord," he intensively coaches an actor, playing two parts and giving verbal as well as facial clues. Shooting a carnal threesome for "Satyricon," he walks the actors through the scene, talking them through it beat by beat as they are performing just as if he were directing a silent film.

After experiencing all this, it is no surprise to hear the director say that "things that are most real for me are invented.... I feel exiled, a bit empty away from the set. I can't cope with what is called normal existence."

Fellini may have been a born liar, but that made him a born filmmaker as well.

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Related Article:

Lurking beneath the legend, Fellini is there for the discovery
Ten years after the director's death, his aesthetic and style can be reappraised in several local screenings.

Beware the adjective. As the descriptive term "Felliniesque" has become part of the lexicon, it has lost its specificity with regard to the output of Italian film director Federico Fellini. Any fresh consideration of his life and work requires a viewer to set aside the vague images of grotesque clowns at the seaside that have attached themselves to the term in order to fully appreciate the stunning breadth and beauty of Fellini's films.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Fellini's passing, and two local art-house exhibitors are commemorating the occasion. The Landmark chain will be showing Damian Pettigrew's new documentary, "Fellini: I'm a Born Liar," at its Nuart theater for one week beginning today, while Laemmle Theatres will screen many of Fellini's greatest works, including "8 1/2," "I Vitelloni," "Nights of Cabiria" and "La Strada," on weekend mornings throughout the spring and summer at their Sunset 5 and Monica 4 theaters.

Fellini, along with directors such as Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard and Michelangelo Antonioni, was among the wave of filmmakers who brought international cinema to the American public during the 1950s and '60s, achieving tremendous popularity and acclaim. Massively influential during his creative heyday, Fellini would win four Academy Awards for best foreign-language film, as well as an honorary lifetime achievement award.

A Canadian-born documentarian living in Paris and a longtime fan, Pettigrew first met Fellini in 1983 while working on a project about the writer Italo Calvino. It was not until the early 1990s, however, that Fellini would sit for more than 10 hours of interviews.

Combining the interviews with recollections from actors Terence Stamp, Donald Sutherland and Roberto Benigni, as well as such collaborators as production designer Dante Ferretti, screenwriter Tullio Pinelli and cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, the film is less a straightforward biography than a survey of Fellini's aesthetics and style.

Fellini's outsized personality, both on-screen as a filmmaker and off-screen as a loquacious raconteur and tall-tale teller, has led many people to view his films as if each were only about him, chapters in an ongoing autobiography. While there is certainly a large element of that in his work -- "8 1/2" is in fact the eighth film he directed (plus one co-direction for the 1/2), and he frequently cast his wife, Giulietta Masina, as a much-put-upon spouse -- it is shortsighted to think of his films only in this way.

As Pettigrew concedes via e-mail from Paris, Fellini's own showmanship and urge to talk were rarely about revealing himself to others. "Fellini was a hugely original spirit," says Pettigrew, "a bona fide gagman, the king of contradiction, a well-oiled motor mouth -- in short, anything except a thinker. He needed the interviews and the media because it was during these seeming exercises in vanity that he discovered things about himself. If you pushed him hard enough, he would come up with things that surprised even him."

If the passage of time has left Fellini's popular standing in flux, as viewers struggle to find the merits of the films themselves beneath the weight of their reputation, the difficulty of grappling with Fellini is nothing new.

Even at the height of his productivity, Fellini underwent a fair amount of critical reappraisal. For example, writing about "Nights of Cabiria" in 1959, Andrew Sarris noted positively the "familiar landmarks of the anarchic sub-world of Fellini's imagination." Ten years later, Fellini's "Toby Dammit," a loose adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe short story for the omnibus film "Spirits of the Dead," would move Sarris to ask, "At what point, therefore, does a personal cinematic language become a tired cliche?"

Which brings back the vexing notion of the "Felliniesque." Whether one sees the filmmaker as mining the same vein over and over again or creating and engaging an aesthetic world all his own is perhaps a matter of personal taste. Simply cataloging the similarities from film to film overlooks the extreme breadth of styles Fellini's work could encompass, from the cluttered, hallucinogenic kaleidoscope of "Juliet of the Spirits" to the spare, haunted, Giorgio de Chirico- inspired imagery of "8 1/2." Although he did often resort to his infamous "life is a circus" metaphor, Fellini's worldview seemed to comprise equal parts hope and resignation.

As Pettigrew notes, "With a few exceptions, Fellini's films have failure and despair running through them: Life continues, but I can't imagine 'Felliniesque' as an exclusively uplifting adjective. Fellini's best films are the ones that distill this essence -- the paradoxical quality of melancholic ecstasy, a surreal, bittersweet vitality -- to perfection." Taken together, Pettigrew's documentary and the retrospective screenings provide an excellent opportunity to discover with fresh eyes what it was that vaulted the films of Federico Fellini, as well as their creator, to international acclaim.

Asked to summarize how Fellini should be remembered, Pettigrew replies, "Probably for one thing only: a deeply personal vision of cinema that, at its height, expanded the boundaries of what cinematic art could be."

fellini is great.  my favorites are 8 1/2, La Strada, La Dolce Vita, and Amarcord.  I couldn't agree more with GhostBoy - his compassion for his characters show.

Again, another quote from the critic Stanley Kauffmann that deals directly with the compassion Fellini had as a filmmaker:

"During his lifetime, many fine filmmakers blessed us with their art, but he was the only one who made us feel that each of his films, whatever its merits, was a present from a friend."

~rougerum

Quote from: The Gold Trumpet"...a present from a friend."

~rougerum

i couldn't have put it into words, but that's exactly it.

i bought the 8 1/2 criterion this weekend. great film.
someone mentioned the influence on Tim Burton and i really see it. i believe he used some of the music in Pee Wee or Beetlejuice. i also saw that Fellini, Gilliam and Burton all started out as cartoonists? interesting.

anywho. if i like 8 1/2, what Fellini should i see next? oh, one problem. where i live there is no availability of foreign films to rent. only stuff like Abre los Ojos. no Godard, Fellini, Truffaut, etc. so i guess i'd have to actually buy one of the Criterions or maybe join Netflix (do they carry a good selection of foreign films?)

it blew my mind that hasting's had this disc. i actually didn't mind paying a few dollars more than i could have gotten offline. the manager must be a cinephile. it was no fluke because they also had the other DVD version of 8 1/2, breathless, 4 of the Kurosawa Criterions.

The Pee Wee's Big Adventure Score is definitely a very deliberate homage to Nino Rota (although there's some Herrman in there too).

Here are some quotes from Burton on Burton:

"The thing I liked about Fellini was that he created images that even if you didn't know what they meant literally, you felt something. It's not creating images to create images. And even though I didn't fully understand a lot of what he was saying, I could feel a heart behind it. That's what his work meant to me, that things don't have to be literal, you don't ahve to understand everything."

And...

"I never like jumping from one movie to another, because it's too much of a harsh experience. Luckily, it leaves you, so that you can do it again, but it does get harder and harder. That's why I think I always liked Fellini movies, because he seemed to capture the spirit and the magic of making a movie. It is something that is beautiful and you want to obtain it because it gives you the energy to keep going."

Quote from: bigideaswhere i live there is no availability of foreign films to rent.

i have the same problem.  unless i want the box office hits, i'm out of luck as far as rentals go.  i request through the public library, films from the university libraries in my state.  I can get just about everything and never pay a dime.  you might be able to do the same.

really? you can go to your library and get universities to send videos? how do you go about that? my town and library are very, very small. under 5,000 people.
when i was going to the university, they had a lot of good films. i saw Breathless and the 400 Blows, sunrise, chaplin and keaton films, sevearl of Kurosawa's films.......up there there was a chain videostore called HOllywood Videos and they had the more famous Tati, Fellini, Bergman, Antonioni,Godard, etc films. when i knew i was going to move back home and have no access, i rented like crazy. i was watching 2-3 films almost every day.

I just moved to a town of 7,000.  Go to your public library, and ask them how to request materials from the other libraries in the state.  They will give you an website address for your state request center.  You go to the website and you can pick from certain libraries, all public libraries, or colleges and universities.  You enter a search for the film name or director..it brings up the film...there will be a button somewhere that says 'save'... click it.  You can lookup several films and click save for each one you would like to request.  When you're done, there will be a button that says 'email requests'....click it.  It will take you to an email form with a list of the films you saved.  Ask your librarian for the email address of the person who submits the requests (you can't submit them directly yourself), they give it to you and you type it in, then type in your name and phone number.  The librarian will get the email and submit it for you and call you when they have received your requests.

I live in Minnesota, it's a nice change from Aspen, where I moved from, but unless Vin Diesel is in the film....it won't make it here.  The video rental places are terrible, there is no foreign film section.  But through the public library I can request just about everything....including film prints.

that's cool. thanks. i'm not sure if things will work like that in Texas.
you can check out actual prints? i'm guessing you mean of recent films? where would you go to watch them?

Good question, I'm still milling through a list of about 200 films on vhs I haven't seen and want to request.  I assume the film prints, since the ones i've found are located at the universities, are of the small 'classroom projector' format.  So down the road i'll buy one off some school that doesn't use it anymore.  I think all schools use vhs these days, so i'm hoping it won't be too hard to find one.

I'm sure you have some sort of Interlibrary Loan system in Texas.  If MN does TX must.

p.s. surprisingly, the prints are older...I can request films like 400 blows, Ran, Exterminating Angel,...etc.

i really want to see Juliet of the Spirits and La Dolce Vita.

Quote from: dufresneJuliet of the Spirits

It's the fluffiest and most occult of the Fellini film's I've seen.  Gorgeous use of color throughout, toys with sexuality roles....Highly stylized, very enjoyable, and, though not a masterpiece, unmistakably an entertaining piece of the Fellini career arc.

Did you like "Juliet of the Spirits" the first time you saw it?  I saw it recently and I just did not like it.  I don't know what it was about it, but I found it a bit boring.  I may see it again once I see some other Fellini films.  The only other one I've seen is "8 1/2."

8 1/2 bored me, I want to see La Dolce Vita, but im not sprinting out to get it.

Ducks, watch it again

trust me, it ages nicely

i still argue that 81/2 has one of the greatest opening scenes in cinema history

Duck Sauce, if 8 1/2 bored you, then you stand no chance with La Dolce Vita.

~rougerum

Definitely give it another chance. The first time I watched it, it was really late at night and I had trouble staying awake, so I turned it off halfway through. I started it over again the next day and loved every minute of it.

I just rewatched it again last week after a long while, probably since I first bought the DVD when it first came out, and poser is right. It gets better with each viewing.

Quote from: GhostboyDefinitely give it another chance. The first time I watched it, it was really late at night and I had trouble staying awake, so I turned it off halfway through. I started it over again the next day and loved every minute of it.

Me too! only i loathed almost every minute of it.

i have yet to go to the library yet to see if they can get films from universities. i work pretty much every minute they're open.
a
anywho, i wondered what the rules were regarding that:
like, how many films can you check out at a time?
who pays for shipping expense?
i'm thinking since it is a library, maybe there is no shipping for educational purposes, but i could be wrong.

Quote from: Duck Sauce

Quote from: GhostboyDefinitely give it another chance. The first time I watched it, it was really late at night and I had trouble staying awake, so I turned it off halfway through. I started it over again the next day and loved every minute of it.

Me too! only i loathed almost every minute of it.

i want a laughin icon. but they are all to gay.

Just saw La dolce vita tonight.  First, I should preface this by saying I saw 8 1/2 about two or three months ago, and didn't really get into it at all.  Fellini has what I've coined this lack-of-narrative-point entrance syndrome where you seem to be on the outside looking in in his films (the two I've seen).  This is remedied in La dolce vita a bit, but in 8 1/2 it was horrible, and there were very few scenes I could get involved in.  The only scenes I remember bits and pieces of are the woman dancing on the beach, the scene in his house where he's trying to tame his women (though a lot of that is nonsensical and jumbled now), and the final parade scene, which, I'm sure was beautiful, but because of the lack of impact the other scens had for me, it failed me.  And I want to be involved in a film when I watch it.  I sort of get why the film is heralded; it just doesn't work for me.  Fellini is chock full of all these beautiful ideas, but they are simply poorly executed.  One thing is for sure: he seems to make films about films.  It seems to be almost a complex of his.  Or maybe that's just these two films I've seen so far that give me that impression.  8 1/2 in a nutshell: **½/**** (6/10)

So yes, La dolce vita: the first hour and twenty minutes was overindulgent hell.  I started the film Friday night and after that time, I shut it off and went to sleep, not wanting to think about having to sit through another hour forty of it.  The blonde woman was beautiful, but I don't even know her name.  Shows how brutally BAD Fellini is at bringing you into the film and helping you get to know who the characters are.  And I didn't get to actually REMEMBERING what the characters names were until the last hour.  But they seems to change so much; they seem to come in and out of his live without much rhyme or reason.

Things finally started to get good, though, in the second two thirds of the film.  First, the scene with Marcello and his dad in the nightclub.  I LOVED it.  When two or three characters finally sit down and start talking about things that matter: that, to me, is good cinema.  I believe his relationship with his father explains a lot about his character, and that is of utmost importance.  Plus, the trumpet player was priceless.  He added the atmosphere to the scene that gave it its poignancy.

Second, the breakup scene on the abandoned highway between Marcello and the brunette.  That's probably one of the most powerful arguments I've ever seen.  Great scene, too.  Can't really describe it, you just have to see it.  And I imagine whoever likes this movie probably knows what I'm talking about.

Then there's the scene with Marcello and the drunk girl who asks him to marry her.  I have trouble telling the women apart in this film for some reason, so I don't remember her name, but there was a vulnerability here that made the scene special.  Again, I can't really say why.  It's just one of those things.

Finally (last but not least), what really made this film good for me is the whole last scene at the beach house.  The dancing, the drunkenness, and the sexy strip-tease: it was all just so oddly beautiful.  And then it was eclipsed by the final scene on the beach.  I wasn't as interested, though, in the dead animal they found there, as I was with Marcello's interaction with the young blonde girl who was waving at him and trying to call at him.  He couldn't hear him because the sound was drowned out by the waves.  I get the feeling though, that that wasn't important, as it was the mood of the scene that was all that mattered.  Just like in Touch of Evil, a film that came out two years earlier that pioneered this technique (also replicated in Rushmore).

The film itself is overblown (overindulgent, as I said before).  Example: I don't want to watch people at a party; if I wanted to be at a party, I'd go.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to sit through all three hours again.  But the overall effect is nice: as if you have actually seen something of Marcello's "sweet life" (an ironic title if there ever was one).  I really wish this film would come out on DVD.  As with most foreign films on VHS, this one was cropped so I couldn't see everything (VERY annoying), and the subtitles were illegible half the time.  So yes, not that I'd buy it or even rent it, but a DVD would be nice, with correct aspect ratio.  ***½/**** (8/10)

blonde woman=anita ekberg
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Ekberg,+Anita
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My favorites are  La Strada, Dolce Vita and 8 1/2.....

And coming close Nights of Cabiria , la Nave Va and Satyricon....

And every single time I watch La Strada I get amazed how  Giulietta Masina's character is really similar to Emily Watson in Breaking the waves....even their eyes look alike....

i suggest you give 8 1/2 another shot. maybe get a copy of the Criterion edition. watch it again and then watch it with the commentary. i think it's a film that grows on you, at least it does for me. actually, i think all the best films do that, because they challenge you at first, catch you off guard, etc and with repeated viewings clarity begins to form
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i love 8 1/2 a lot, but it is the only Fellini i've seen. how do the other films of his that Criterion have put out compare?? i say this because there's no way i could rent any decent foreign films where i live
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oh, i know, the second part is almost identical to a post from the first of the thread, but this is an old ass thread and my questions have still been unanswered, which i didn't realize i still had until thread review

Way back in the day when I was in art school in NYC I took a film theory class at the New School...I think this was in '94 or '93...anyway, the day Fellini died our teacher showed up and was in tears.  I thought the guy was completely crazy.

10 years later I've seen all the great Fellini films (8 1/2, La Strada, La Dolce Vita, Juliet of the Spirits, Amorcord, Nights of Cabiria, etc.) and I finally know what those tears were about.

I watched the Criterion edition of Juliet of the Spirits with my girlfriend a couple of months ago.  She's not really into foreign films at all, but she was mesmirized.  Three-quarters of the way through I asked her, "did you get what he just said," and she said, "I stopped reading an hour ago."

She was experiencing the film on a purely visual, visceral level, completely enraptured and under its spell.  THATS Fellini.  You don't even have to know what's going on or what people are saying.  It's like watching a dream or a dance.  Pure magic.

I don't have a favorite...I am torn between Juliet, 8 1/2 and Amorcord...

I've seen 8 1/2 once, didn't like it, but decided to watch it again.  I must say, it is beginning to grow on me.  Plus, I blind bought it from Criterion, and the commentary is really fucking terrifc.

I've only seen Otto e Mezzo (8 1/2) and La Dolce Vita.

I want to discover Fellini's work MUCH MORE!!!!

To many people say that his films are plot-less, it's about nothing.

But is live itself not a little bit plot-less?
Fellini's films captures life very much, the pleasures, rough edges, emotions et cetera.

Amarcord, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria... I HAVE to see them!

Quote from: adolfwolfli
She was experiencing the film on a purely visual, visceral level, completely enraptured and under its spell.  THATS Fellini.  You don't even have to know what's going on or what people are saying.  It's like watching a dream or a dance.  Pure magic.

BEAUTIFUL WORDS!
You stole mine!  :-D

I wrote this exact same thing in that other thread. It fits in both worlds though. I rented The Fellini Satyricon, it made me want to put a bullet in my brain. I haven't felt so trapped since I was five years old when I was at a birthday party, forced to eat McDonalds cheeseburgers. I ate a burger trying not to think about it, and threw up later. That same night I had a dream similar to the Minotaur scene in this movie. This is a flick I never plan to revisit until I'm burning in the flames of hell while Satan plays it on a loop, in which case I'd choose the flames as escapist entertainment from it. I'm not saying it's a bad flick either, I just hated it.. it's a world I never want to stare into again, what a hell. "My sword is blunted" indeed.

I just watched Amarcord again the other day and I gotta say.. more people should see this. It would get more non-foreign film lovers into that cinema.. at least Italian cinema. The movie is just hilarious. As I recall Ebert writing (yet its a no-brainer anyhow), this movie is for everybody.. its a universal film. not for kids, but you know what i mean. I don't have to know anything about the time period to see that it can still be a really entertaining movie. its just a bonus to understand what was going on then in the 30's. A beautiful movie with some of the most memorably eccentric characters in the history of the movies.

Agreed 100%. A masterpiece. And to think, Speilberg thought HE should have been nominated for Best Director for Jaws over this. The bastard.

just saw Nights Of Cabiria.  why Fellini, why!??!  god, how could you do that to her!?!?  that was so sad, and i didnt even see it coming.  heartbreaking.

Yeah, there's that certain point where you just see it coming -- and it's like nonononononononononono and then it happens and it's devastating. But the great thing about Fellini is that he can take you from that low point to a rather happy ending so smoothly and believably.

Haven't read all the posts here yet, but I'm definitively going to do that!

I'm in the middle of my so-called "Fellini-Odysse" and I have already seen ten of his films.

I was even able to record some films from the (German) tv (Roma, Satyricon, Giulietta Degli Spiriti, La Citta Delle Donne, Ginger et Fred)!  :P

Some bether than the other, of course, but no Fellini-film is able to bore me!

I like everything about his films, about his ideas on the arts, the artist, women, etcetera! His superb cinematography, his "loose" style of filming, his passion...

Films like Giulietta Degli Spiriti, Satyricon and Roma are great works, Otto e Mezzo is- of course, you can almost say- even better.

And I still have to see his two major works, maybe the two I will like most: Amarcord and Le Notti di Cabiria.

Great!!  

Now I'm going to read what other Fellini-freaks think of the Maestro...

yes, you'll love Amarcord, it's a masterpiece.


interestingly enough, I just bought Variety Lights not too long ago. I bought it more out of a collector's spirit, just to have every Fellini, telling myself I probably wouldn't think much of it because it was his "early work". Well, was I wrong. An absolutely beautiful, funny, entertaining film. As is all of his.

I'm putting on a Fellini week for me and my roomates starting next Monday. Yay.

Quote from: bigideasi have yet to go to the library yet to see if they can get films from universities. i work pretty much every minute they're open.
a
anywho, i wondered what the rules were regarding that:
like, how many films can you check out at a time?
who pays for shipping expense?
i'm thinking since it is a library, maybe there is no shipping for educational purposes, but i could be wrong.

Dude, Netflix.  For serious.

www.netflix.com

You'll thank me.

Quote from: GhostboyHere are some quotes from Burton on Burton

Just bought that book! Great great stuff, I love it so far, I've read like 50 pages in 2 days, that's a lot for me.

Never seen a Fellini movie myself. I will very very soon. I blind bought Amarcord like last August, somebody told me that's the worst film to start with so I kinda forgot about it and it's buried somewhere in my dvd case now. I want to start with 8 1/2 and then I'll be sure to watch it.

i just bought satyricon, and i'm about to watch it - is it worth it?

You should ask whether the movie is worth it before buying it. So, of course, watch it! I have problems with the film and kinda exhausted when trying to watch it, but definitely watch it.

~rougerum

yeah, i'm about halfway through it so far, I'm not too impressed.  i wanna watch 8 1/2.

Definitely watch 8 1/2. It has the spirit missing in Satyricon along with the full blown style.

~rougerum

Quote from: ebeamanI blind bought Amarcord, somebody told me that's the worst film to start with

What the..? Do me a favour and bitchslap that guy the next time you see him.

yeah, i second that.  that and 8 1/2 and juliette of the spirits i have seen, and i loved.  especially 8 1/2.  i just finished satyricon and i really didn't like it for some reason.  just didn't sit well with me.  oh well.

Doesn't sit well with many...

For me, Amarcord is the worst film to begin with...because I always save the best for last!  :)

Variety Lights is one of the few films I am NOT able to see (along with f.e. his episode for the film about Poe's work, Toby Dammit). Too bad.

His early work I've seen (I vitelloni and Il Bidone) is good enough for what they are: neo-realistic drama's, reminding of La Strada and Le Notti di Cabiria).
Il Bidone (1955) is part of the "Loneliness Trilogy", together with La Strada (1954) and Le Notti di Cabiria. One reason (more) to also watch Il Bidone!

His early work is much more neo-realistic, his later work more surrealistic. I think Fellini's most famous works are that of his "middle period" (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita), but I also like the films after that, and the films near the ending of his career, much.

His work after 8 ½ tends to become even more dream-like (Juliet of the Spirits, Roma..).  I just like that vey dreamy, hypnotic eye-candy.
Persons who like Juliet...or Roma, should also be attracted to La Citta Delle Donne (City of Women).
It starts rather chaotic (in a hotel full of women; much screaming etcetera), but it gets more and more deliriously dream-like: great atmospheric images…! Also a bit nightmearish, disturbing sometimes.

Yeah- I like a lot about Fellini's magic world!

Some memorable moments of this magic:
the dreamlike sequences of 8 ½ of course (the children in bed, talking about the painting; the opening sequence…) and the "rumba" on the beach- highly passionate!
The beautiful opening tune of Roma (maybe the best of Nino Rota) and the exhibition show for and by nons and monks (also great music!), the sequence with flashing-light in Juliet and the Spirits wherein we see lovebirds in every corner (beautiful!), fantastic imagery in Satyricon, which look more like a medieval painting by Jheronymus Bosch….

By the way: If you have a chance to see the before-mentioned French documentary  by Canadian Pettigrew…see it!
It's a docu especially for Fellini-freaks. People who haven't seen much of Fellini's work, will have difficulties "reading" it, I guess. It's like the articel says: much less a bibliographical docu then a filosophical inquiry. Indeed, we can't see from which films the images come from…

I first saw the docu when I just saw two of his films (La dolce Vita, 8 ½). But after having seen eight more, both Fellini's world and this documentary makes more and more sense!
Actually this docu is very much like Fellinis himself (which is a great thing when you know it!): fragmented and non-coherent at first sight, but it will make sense more and more…

But this docu is excellent in exploring Fellini's vision and ideas about the Artist, Creation, and so on! Great lines are spoken, much beautiful ideas mentioned!!

It begins great, with Fellini saying: "Every time I see one of my movies, Satyricon or Casanova for instance, I ask myself: "WHO made those films?"
It's like, when making the picture, someone takes over.."

BTW, Terrence Stamp was less "frustrated" than Sutherland. Both were talking interestingly about the man, but Stamp more "in wonder". Talking about "puppets, marionets in the hands of Fellini".
(Stamp, when he asks for directions (which he barely gets): "And he looked at me, as if I was a puppet coming to life")  :P
Great!

all of you kids do know that La Strada is about to be released by Criterion, right?

just making sure.

8 1/2 is the only Fellini i've seen, i own the Criterion, and i love it.

about NetFlix......do all of the Criterion releases always have a long wait? how long for instance?......i would only do the whole NetFlix thing so i could rent Criterions, foreign films......so if they're hard to get, then it doesn't seem worth it to me

do you work for NetFlix or something? i've asked the question about waiting before in the actual Netflix thread and got no reply.

someone please answer my question before i shell out 20 bucks a month.

You will experience waits on almost anything new with Netflix, but they're usually not unbearably long waits.

My favorite Fellinis: Nights of Cabiria and Amarcord.

I also really like Juliet of the Spirits; the liner notes of the Criterion DVD are intensely revealing and very interesting.

Quote from: godardianYou will experience waits on almost anything new with Netflix, but they're usually not unbearably long waits.

.

i meant more like Criterions / foreign films that have been out a while......like Band of Outsiders Criterion for instance......how long would you have to wait for that?

not long, a few of those are on my queue right now and they're all AVAILABLE NOW.  the only things i've had a problem waiting for is the nightmare on elm streets when freddy vs jason came out.  and a few other horror movies this month that they dont have as much stock of.  all the criterion/foriegn etc. type movies i've never had to wait on.

ok, thanks. for some reason i was getting the vibe that those films were in short supply.......so i figured all the cinephiles where renting them and there would long waits.

good then. i guess that will be a good way to check more Fellini, Godard, etc without shelling out 30-40 bucks blindly........although it's turned out quite well so far!

Quote from: bigideasso i figured all the cinephiles where renting them and there would long waits.

No, not me. Because Netflix isn't in Canada. :(

Quote from: bigideasgood then. i guess that will be a good way to check more Fellini, Godard, etc

Aw, god! This is too much! Fuck Netflix for only being in the U.S. :cry: Aw, now look what you made me do, Netflix.. this is YOUR doing!

Saw yesterday 8 1/2 for the first time, and I wish after it ended could say it was the masterpiece everyone claims to be, but didn't, though thought it was really good and beautifuly shot, but today during the morning I replayed the film in my head and it clicked, it is amazing, almost every frame of it could be in the thread of Most perfectly composed shot in movie history. A masterpiece without a doubt.

Glad you liked it.

I've been doing a little mini-Fellini festival at my house, to build up to the La Strada release. So far the past week I've watched White Sheik, 8 1/2, Juliet Of The Spirits, Roma, and Amarcord. Today I watch the only Fellini film I don't love (City Of Women) but it was mostly due to the horrible transfer, so let's hope it works for me this time. And tomorrow is the last day, with the always wonderful And The Ship Sails On.

Everytime I see Amarcord, it creeps that much closer to dethroning 8 1/2 as my fav Fellini...

Quote from: SoNowThenEverytime I see Amarcord, it creeps that much closer to dethroning 8 1/2 as my fav Fellini...

Hm, I guess I should quit dickin around and buy it. I've always been [irrationally] hesitant towards Amarcord. But, if it's good enough to nearly "dethrone" 8 1/2 (which I love) then I know what my next purchase shall be.

However, I've been jonesin for La Dolce Vita. Unfortunately it's only on VHS (with two versions). I haven't heard any announcements from Criterion or any other company concerning a release on DVD. Should I go ahead and buy the VHS of LDV, or a bootleg DVD perhaps? Or should I, as my initial posts states, buy Amarcord instead?

oh good sweet holy lord yes, buy it!!!!!!

btw, the first time I saw it I was tres unimpressed. but it took the second viewing to really recognize all the characters, and now, by the fourth viewing it's pure cinematic bliss...

Federico Fellini's i Vitelloni will be playing in NY and San Fransisco soon:

http://www.kino.com/ivitelloni/

and there's a great trailer at http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/i_vitelloni/

Quote from: godardianMy favorite Fellinis: Nights of Cabiria and Amarcord.

Hmmm...more people say that (in my home country).

I've now seen 13 of Fellini's films (the ten I spoke of earlier, plus Intervista, Ginger e Fred and Fellini's last film, La Voce della Luna).

I've now almost finished my so-called "Fellini-Odyssee" and have seen all the ten films whcih were shown on German television.

I can only add two more films to those 13, so I will reach the 15.

Like I said earlier...I only have to see two of his very best films, which I have spared :-D  (La Notte di Cabiria and Amarcord)

I'm thinking of renting Le Notti di Cabiria tonight, or next week...

Later more!

i think my fav Fellini moment is in 'la strada' when she is walking alone down that dirt road and the three fiddle players walk right past her. some might say 'weird for the sake of being weird' but i think its beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, which is for me the meaning of felliniesque(along, of course, with with being deeply symbolic)

his moments, scenes are certaintly beautiful.  they're not weird for the sake of being weird...did i quote you right, although i know you said someone else said it.  
i think he's the most graceful director.  his movies have such a great freedom to them.  you almost feel as if you're not watching a film sometimes, which is their appeal, at least to me.  
my favorite is la dolce vita.  that opened all new doors for me in filmmaking.  but i keep coming back to 'nights of cabiria'.  it's so great when the woman (can't spell her name)..well, cabiria, is dancing in that nightclub; sorry to be so vague.  but just to see her dance and her face sort of light up; it's great.  i wish more actresses would act with such enthusiasm and freedom.

i just watched 'barton fink' for a second time after i seeing 'la dolce vita' and i was wondering if anyone else thinks barton is pretty felliniesque? it ends with our man on the beach, it is full of strange scenes that are never fully explained, and its about making movies. i know most directors today are really influenced by fellini, but the only reason i ask this is becuase i've never heard the cohen brothers in particular cite him as an influence (maybe i'm just not paying attention :) )

Quote from: travisbickle1000i just watched 'barton fink' for a second time after i seeing 'la dolce vita' and i was wondering if anyone else thinks barton is pretty felliniesque? it ends with our man on the beach, it is full of strange scenes that are never fully explained, and its about making movies. i know most directors today are really influenced by fellini, but the only reason i ask this is becuase i've never heard the cohen brothers in particular cite him as an influence (maybe i'm just not paying attention :) )

I guess I wouldn't... there is something systematic, detached, and austere in the Coens' best work (including Fink) that you wouldn't get from Fellini. They're much less sensuous and much more intellectual.

The things you pointed out about Fink could superficially be described as Felliniesque, though.

yes, tim burton is a fan of Fellini....it was talked about earlier in this thread or a burton one, i can't remember

i'm about halfway through roma right now and i really love it so far

I am ashamed that I've never seen ANY of Fellini's films, although I do have 8 1/2 and Amarcord sitting on my shelf. I just feel like they're something I really have to be in the mood for to watch (this is how Bergman is for me, and even still I don't find his movies the masterpieces they're cracked out to be). Are they more accesible than I think? Because if they are, I'll peep 'em this weekend. If not, well, they'll be sitting there on my shelf for another few months.

I can't imagine someone who loves movies not enjoying 8 1/2. Amarcord, imo, takes a good 2 -3 viewing to fully appreciate.

Quote from: SoNowThenI can't imagine someone who loves movies not enjoying 8 1/2. Amarcord, imo, takes a good 2 -3 viewing to fully appreciate.

Who said I love movies?  :-D

Thanks. I saw the opening scene of 8 1/2 and it was amazing, but I didn't have time to watch the whole thing and since then just haven't gotten around to it. I'll definitely get around to it this weekend, but I also have about 40 others I own that I have yet to see. Damn I hate movies.

i netflixed 8 1/2 and the subtitles wouldnt work so i sent it back and went to my library and took it out and again, that ones subtitles didnt work so the first time i saw it i watched it in italian, and it was cool, but ive since bought it and the subtitles work so now i like it even more

I watched 8&1/2 about a month ago and was mesmerised by it but didn't quite connect to it as much as I would have liked too. There were moments but I couldn't hold onto them. Im going to give it another go purely because that last sequence is still so vivid in my memory.
However, I watched La Dolce Vita last night and absolutely loved it. Does anyone know about some kind of DVD restoration because the region 2 I had wasn't in great shape. I'd really like to own a version of my own.

Tonight I'm watching Roma.

Quote from: ®edlumTonight I'm watching Roma.

Roma is good.......but thats just because the good parts are so good they make up for the boring ones.....

Quote from: ®edlum
Tonight I'm watching Roma.

Do me a favor and see if you can spot Marcello Mastroianni. He's listed on the dvd as being in it as himself, but after 4 viewings I still can't pick him out...

I watched 8 1/2 once, but I watched few minutes here and there so I don't remember the experience.  I rented it from the library a while ago, but the DVD was scratched up.

I liked Nights of Cabiria.  Didn't care for Juliet of the Spirits.

Just watched Roma and pretty much agree with what you said, eward. Favourite section being the discovery of Roman chamber whilst digging for the subway.

I didn't see Marcello, even when I ws looking out for him. Maybe its like PTA in Minority Report.

The last Fellini film that my rental service has is Satyricon (next in my rental queue). There is only four available on Region 2 DVD. And the Region ones are too expensive to blind buy  :(

red, if you can, get ahold of John Baxter's Fellini biography. It's got a chapter by chapter of each film, and the Roma one is particularily good (and puts a lot of the more confusing italian stuff in context).

I found the book for $1 at a discount bookstore once...

Thanks for the tip, SNT. I managed to find it at a reasonable price on Amazon marketplace. I have Baxters biography of De Niro in the queue on my shelf.

I have his Woody Allen bio... which is fine, though his criticisms of Husbands and Wives are wrong, wrong, wrong...

I watched 8 1/2 yesterday and it was about what I had expected, and maybe a little more. It was definitely a trip, kinda like one of those dreams that isn't quite good, but not a nightmare. Like something just isn't right, but you can't pull yourself out of it. I'm probably not making much sense right now, but that's how I felt watching it.

After it was over I thought, hey, I can understand why this film is so highly touted, but I have connected with so many more "classics" better than I did with this. Then when I was out last night I found myself constantly thinking about it and that's when I started to realize just how great it really is. I think the scene that really stood out for me (or maybe this was just when my buzz was at its peak) was the flashback to Guido's childhood when the women were bathing all the kids. The atmosphere Fellini creates is awesome, and the music throughout, but especially in that scene, didn't hurt either.

On deck, Criterion Spine #4, Amarcord.

Amarcord mopped the floor with me.
It blew me out of the cinematic water.

I've heard bad things about John Baxter's books.

Quote from: ®edlumThe last Fellini film that my rental service has is Satyricon

oh god..well, have fun with that (i HATED satyricon).......only fellini i have seen that has gotten a truly negative reaction out of me, others have been  good to great

just watched la dolce vita... masterpiece alright, but there were times that i didnt know what he was driving at... or if he was endlessly pounding on the same idea over on over again... but of course filmmaking was amazing

on my initial viewing of 8 1/2 this is exactly how i felt too... then after watching it over and over, its fucking perfect ... i think i have to watch la dolce vita again on a better transfer than the crappy 20 bucks VHS i bought in amazon.

Quote from: Sanjurojust watched la dolce vita... masterpiece alright, but there were times that i didnt know what he was driving at... or if he was endlessly pounding on the same idea over on over again... but of course filmmaking was amazing

on my initial viewing of 8 1/2 this is exactly how i felt too... then after watching it over and over, its fucking perfect ... i think i have to watch la dolce vita again on a better transfer than the crappy 20 bucks VHS i bought in amazon.

Why isn't this a Criterion disc yet?!!!  I've tried several times to sit down and watch it but the god-awful white subtitles get blended in with the background, a la Goldmember, and I can't concentrate.  Is there at least a VHS with yellow subtitles somewhere?  Otherwise, I'm going to have to wait for a Fellini retrospective (which isn't that hard to come by in New York) or for whoever is holding up the Criterion DVD up to get their act together before I can watch this film.  I'm dying to; 8 1/2 and Nights of Cabiria are two of the greatest films ever made.

Quote from: hacksparrowWhy isn't this a Criterion disc yet?!!!

That famous culprit -- rights isues:
http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=1663

CC won't ever get the rights to La Dolce Vita. I thinks it's Paramount, and there's supposed to be a dvd this year.


Just be happy you didn't get stuck with a brazilian black-market copy, with 1/3 of the subtitles missing or wrong, and the incorrect ratio of 1.85:1.

8 1/2's better anyway...

Quote from: SoNowThenCC won't ever get the rights to La Dolce Vita. I thinks it's Paramount, and there's supposed to be a dvd this year.


Just be happy you didn't get stuck with a brazilian black-market copy, with 1/3 of the subtitles missing or wrong, and the incorrect ratio of 1.85:1.

OUCH!  :shock:  

Thanks for the info.  At least someone's going to put it out this year.

Quote from: hacksparrow

Quote from: SoNowThenCC won't ever get the rights to La Dolce Vita. I thinks it's Paramount, and there's supposed to be a dvd this year.


Just be happy you didn't get stuck with a brazilian black-market copy, with 1/3 of the subtitles missing or wrong, and the incorrect ratio of 1.85:1.

OUCH!  :shock:  

Thanks for the info.  At least someone's going to put it out this year.

I watched about 15 minutes of the VHS before I realized it was pan and scan and turned it off.

Quote from: RaviI watched about 15 minutes of the VHS before I realized it was pan and scan and turned it off.

xixaxer reaction.  i salute you.

I'm trying to get hold of that Italian 2 Disc of LDV - those caps were gorgeous. In my searching I found this piece of useless trivia.

QuoteThe film contributed the term "paparazzi" to the language. The term derives from Marcello's photographer friend Paparazzo.

i read some biography on Fellini. it sounds like what you describe. it had sections for each of his films up through the 70's or so, i think. i've only seen 8 1/2 and The White Shiek so far. there was a picture in there from Juliet of the Spirits of the actress who plays the adultress in 8 1/2, Sandra Milo......boy, did she look hot........kinda makes me want to see it

Oh she is. Actually, how Fellini describes the character in 8 1/2 (and Milo herself), is classic. To paraphrase, "a placid, big-assed broad -- the perfect mistress. Dumb and loyal."

is she a main character in Juliet of the Spirits?

Yup, she plays Suzy the whore next door. And she also plays a whole bunch of Juliet's visions.

Her interview on the 8 1/2 dvd is I think one of the best Criterion's ever done. She's got this passion when she talks about Fellini, different from a film kinda passion, but she really loved him. I dunno if a lot of what she says is bullshit (she was apparently notorious for stretching their relationship), but it makes for a great listen.

i felt she gave such an honest interview.  but of course you never know

i just watched Variety Lights as the first part of my fellini week/month.   i liked it.  i dunno, even though it was sort of light, just everything i've seen of his i'm just interested in.  (which is mostly earlier stuff, so it'll be interesting to see what happens later when he gets weirder).  every movie he makes is just to find new ways to make Giulietta Masina miserable.  she does sad better than anyone else, and happy.

I really really really enjoyed that movie. More so than White Sheik, and easily just as much as Cabiria. The goofy characters in the troop, man, Fellini does that so well.

What's up next for your FF week, mod?

i've previously seen 8 1/2, la dolce vita, nights of cabiria, and la strada.  and so far i've liked to loved everything.  this week i'm watching variety lights, the white sheik, the swindle, juliet of the spirits, and amarcord.  exciting stuff.  :-D

Ah, Amarcord *swoon* !!

Which version of Il Bidone do you have? I've got the chopped American version dvd. It's supposed to be about 20 minutes longer, and you can sure feel it missing as you get towards the end. Too bad really, cos it must've been a great movie.

Anybody have any word whether or not they'll ever release it in its proper version? I think I might have heard whispers on the CC message board...

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fa408.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F408%2F1284%2F24h%2Fimage.netflix.com%2FNetFlix_Assets%2Fboxshots%2Flarge%2F60001588.jpg&hash=52a8c634b6438494eae2fdd2fdd38b684ee2d5cc)
whichever one NETFLIX has.  i think its the only region 1 version of it, isnt it?

:cry:  yep

I just saw 8 1/2 for the first time Monday. I loved it.

For all those who get IFC, they'll be airing Amarcord on the following dates:
Saturday, Mar 6 2004 5:15 PM
Sunday, Mar 7 2004 8:00 AM
Sunday, Mar 7 2004 2:00 PM
Tuesday, Mar 16 2004 11:45 AM
Tuesday, Mar 16 2004 6:45 PM
Wednesday, Mar 17 2004 9:15 AM

I have yet to see this, so I'm very excited (especially since it'll leave me $40 richer).

Amarcord is amazing.

goddamn i was not prepared for that!  just finished White Sheik which was okay.  it was very light and in a few places even wacky, which was fine but i wish if they were going to push the comicness of the situations that they had gone a bit further with it.  it didnt seem quite funny enough to be completely engaging.  the highlight of the film was Giuletta Masina's cameo AS freakin' Cabiria!  i had no idea, so when she popped up (and in that character no less) it was a nice surprise for the film.  The Swindle however, for some reason, i was under the impression it was a lighter film as well about a heist or con men or something of that nature.  i had no idea it was as terribly sad as it was.  god, that was depressing.  i read afterwards that it was the middle chapter in fellini's trilogy of lonliness with la strada and nights of cabiria both of which were sad as hell.  it did seem like there may have been some missing around the end.  the way the painter character suddenly is gone seemed too abrupt.  but the final scenes/shot were really sad.

okay i just watched Amarcord and have come to the conclusion that Fellini is like the Rolling Stones.  he had a really great period for a couple years where he made his best stuff, and the further away you get from that period (either eariler or later) it gets less good.  Juliet of the Spirits was okay/good, interesting.  there were some serious Lynchian elements going on during the psyhic sequence, (anyone know if he's mentioned that movie as an influence?), and Amarcord had a collection of great scenes/dialogue, incl. asking the local whore if she dips cocks in her morning coffee. hahha, but it really just didnt hit the spot for me personally.  so ranking my Intro to Fellini, my favorites are like this...

1. La Dolce Vita
2. 8 1/2
3. Nights of Cabiria
4. La Strada
5. Il Bidone/The Swindle
6. Variety Lights
7. The White Sheik
8. Juliet of the Spirits
9. Amarcord

very interested in seeing I Vitelloni, (did i read criterion is putting that out this year, or am i making that up?)  and overall I really really like Fellini.

Quote from: themodernage02
very interested in seeing I Vitelloni, (did i read criterion is putting that out this year...

God, I hope so...

And your list is pretty much identical to how I would rank his films, except that Amarcord would be #5.  I didn't like it as much as most, but it was still great.

make sure you see roma as well

Vitelloni is getting re-released by Kino this year, so expect a dvd from someone.

Trust me, I didn't love Amarcord the first time I saw it either. By the third viewing, it will move into your top 3, easily.

I like the Fellini/Stones comparison, btw.

Quote from: SoNowThenTrust me, I didn't love Amarcord the first time I saw it either. By the third viewing, it will move into your top 3, easily.

I already fell in love with it the first time I saw it, but yeah- you're right- this film has to be seen at least three times to really astonish you.

The colors, the humour, the performances... best Fellini, together with- of course!- Otto e Mezzo.

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,72547,00.html

Starting April 23rd on TCM.
The Magic of Fellini
La Dolce Vita
La Strada
Ginger and Fred

Guido, do you love me a little?

Quote from: SHAFTRhttp://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,72547,00.html

Starting April 23rd on TCM.
The Magic of Fellini
La Dolce Vita
La Strada
Ginger and Fred

Ooohhh...the first two are tempting big time. Never seen the documentary and I'll finally have a copy of La Dolce Vita widescreen.....but fuck TCM if they couldn't use 8 1/2 instead of Ginger and Fred.

Quote from: SHAFTRhttp://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/ThisMonth/Article/0,,72547,00.html

Starting April 23rd on TCM.
The Magic of Fellini
La Dolce Vita
La Strada
Ginger and Fred

Just a reminder.  Fellini Night starts tonite at 8 on TCM.

Wow!

Such things should be held here...!  :roll:

Today I bought Amarcord and 8 1/2 on DVD (together with Tornatore's "Cinema Paradiso").

I've experienced less enjoyable days than today. :)

Im seeing pre-orders for a Region one Dolce Vita 2-Disc popping up on online retailers (including Amazon). This particular site mentions September the 7th:
http://www2.cd-wow.com/detail_results_2.php?product_code=11261

I saw AMARCORD, it reminded me of Radio Days from Woody. I don't know, I like those nostalgia films, it's sad and great to remember. It's not only a past delicious whopper, but the whole experience of eating that whopper---who I was with-a friend who made a comment on the goth-cashier's attitude, bickering on the way he handed her the cash ("I put my hand out, why did you slide the money to me?"), the weird senior citizen minimum-wage employee wiping the table, even the young couple going at it like rabbits at the corner window (okay, that part I made up, but lots of retrospective thinking is exagerrated :|). Everyone has an Amarcord or Radio Days in them.

One scene I loved was Uncle Theo in the tree screaming about how he wanted a women. He kept everyone at the farm for hours more than they anticipated. When finally they took him down from the tree, he gave a little grin and a shrug, I thought that was a perfect resolution.

:yabbse-thumbup:



Doncha just love it when the boys are dancing in the mist?

The American Cinemateque is having a complete Fellini festival at the Egytptian Theater here in Hollywood. It's been wonderful. I've been to everything they've played. Tonight I saw La Dolce Vita and Cassanova. Neither of them are available on dvd here in the US so it was great seeing them on the big screen. I didn't even know La Dolce Vita was 2:35! Boy, was I missing out. I really hope this comes out on a region 1 dvd soon. And has anyone else seen Cassanova. It's pretty rare to even find a copy of it on VHS. I had never seen it and was expecting it to be one of the more lesser Fellini films but I highely enjoyed it (though maybe that's just because I wasn't expecting much). It had some of fellini's best visuals in it in my opinion. Particularly Cassanona on a tiny row boat out in the ocean in the beginning. Really cool effects similar to what you would see in a silent movie. Definitly one of his more shallower plots though but one of his more entertaining ones as well. And I actually found the ending - Cassanova dancing (among other things) with a life size doll to actually be very moving. Anyone else see this rare Fellini film?

Quote from: LostEraserAnd I actually found the ending - Cassanova dancing (among other things) with a life size doll to actually be very moving. Anyone else see this rare Fellini film?

Who even cares to see it if you just told the ending?

I actually didn't give much of the plot away, there's a lot that happens at the end and I just made a reference to one of them. Though, even if I did give the whole ending away it's not like this is a murder mystery or anything. You shouldn't not a watch a Fellini film just because someone gave a way part of (or even all of) the ending. It's Fellini for gods sake!

Quote from: LostEraserIt's Fellini for gods sake!

Yeah, look, I know that. And since it IS Fellini, I don't like 'moving' sequences at the ending of his films to be spoiled for me. Maybe you like that sort of thing but I don't.

Point taken. From now on I will try to play by the rules and write "spoilers" before I write anything about a movie that gives away the plot. Though when I scan the Paul Thomas Anderson Boards or Quentin Tarantino boards I see that quite a few other people aren't playing by the rules either. Oh well. I'll still try. Cheers.

Are you being serious Cinephile? It sounds like you're just kidding...

Your post was fine, LostEraser. It's pretty much a stock Fellini ending. It wouldn't "ruin" anything, per se.

Unless you told everyone about how the doll eats Casanova!!!

Hahahaha, I really ruined it for you all!!!! Now you'll never enjoy it!!!!!!!

Seriously though, this movie isn't even available on video, I think. I'd love to see it.

Thanks, I didn't really think anything was particularly wrong with my post either. But since I'm still technically new here I though I should just play ball and step back for the time being. But, like I said, people discuss major plot points in movies (yes even the endings) in other threads all the time without writing "spoilers" on them. It's just a risk you take reading a board like this where people analyze films so much.

Oh, and no Cassanova is not available on DVD and the VHS has been long out of print. So, yea, I hope that changes soon. While, like I said, it's definitly not one of Fellini's best films it's certainly not his worse either. It deserves to be on dvd much more than say And The Ship Sails on. I'd rank it a little above Satyricon in the Fellini library.

I watched La Strada today.  I haven't seen much Fellini, but this is the most endearing of his films I've seen so far.

Quote from: MacGuffinAnybody going to check out the new doc: "Fellini: I'm A Born Liar"?

[/size]

anyone seen it? i've been so tempted the last couple of weeks to get it...but i need some encouragement.

Quote from: classical gas

Quote from: MacGuffinAnybody going to check out the new doc: "Fellini: I'm A Born Liar"?

anyone seen it? i've been so tempted the last couple of weeks to get it...but i need some encouragement.

c'mon buddy, you can do it.  just get out there and show em your stuff.  i believe in you.

:lol:

i guess i used the wrong word....anyone recommend this?

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvdplanet.com%2Fproductimages%2Ffront%2F15634.jpg&hash=756e88ff5a4cf6494c8063787d192bf0c41da0a4)

Is that a girl or a boy?

I saw it at the video store thinking she was really cute, but after reading some synopsi for the movie -- I'm not sure.

Quote from: meatballIs that a girl or a boy?

I saw it at the video store thinking she was really cute, but after reading some synopsi for the movie -- I'm not sure.

That's a boy, pedophile.

don't you mean "that's a boy, homosexual"?

I thought I'd give meatball more credit and presume he's an adult.

Just to clarify, I thought the person was cute.
Puppies are cute. Kittens are cute.
I don't turn everything into an object of sexual desire.

the La Dolce Vita DVD is released Tuesday:

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemid=KCH003012

for some reason i thought this was released earlier.

yeah, it was originally set to come out a few weeks ago (the 7th i believe), but got delayed slightly although i'm not sure why.

I saw Fellini Satyricon tonight on the big screen -- and while I can imagine not liking it at all watching it at home, seeing it in the theater was  a sort of magical nightmarish experience. I have only the most scant clue what it's actually about or what's going on from scene to scene, but I could tell there was something going on behind what was on screen. If I had seen this without knowing what it was or who directed it, I'd never have guessed it was Fellini -- there were so few of his signature touches. It felt more like Jodorowsky (and it also reminded me a great deal of the film within a film from Contempt), and there were a huge number of elements I noticed that must have influenced other directors -- most notably and obviously Julie Taymour, but also possibly Lynch and Matthew Barney, and there were even some Star Wars-ish elements to it here and there.

Overall -- highly recommended, but ONLY on the big screen.

yeah i definitly fucking hated it when i saw it at home...i did give it a second chance however and now i only sorta kinda like it in that i dont really wanna see it again but i think about it alot way

Final 'Journey'
Lost Fellini project will finally be filmed -- The ''8 1/2'' director's last unfinished project, ''Journey to Tulum,'' is being revived Source: Entertainment Weekly

As any viewer of 8 1/2 can attest, Federico Fellini thrived on turning self-indulgent fantasy into cinematic genius.

Now the Italian director will embark on one last trip. Just as Stanley Kubrick's A.I. was realized posthumously by Steven Spielberg, Fellini's never-filmed project Journey to Tulum is being revived by producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano (I, Robot), who stumbled upon it during a visit to Italy.

Before he died in 1993, Fellini teamed with frequent collaborator Tullio Pinelli on a long outline for Tulum, a movie based on his trippy 1980s visit to Mexico, where bizarre, paranormal events supposedly occurred as he researched the magical lore of the Aztecs. Shane is hoping to attract backing for the movie, which will be in English, from an indie company; Marco Bartoloccioni — who helped rediscover the outline a few years ago — is directing. ''It'll be completely far-out, but it won't be an art-house ride,'' Shane says. ''I think we'll do it as an homage to Fellini in the Fellini style, but accessibly.''

So why didn't Fellini ever make the movie himself? ''Rumor has it,'' says Shane, ''that shamans at the time contacted him and told him that he shouldn't do it because bad things would befall him.'' Hmm, perhaps reviving Tulum doesn't seem like such a good call. ''Am I worried at all?'' Shane laughs. ''No one's told me not to make the movie.''

Nothing good can come of this.

Quote from: Shane
''It'll be completely far-out, but it won't be an art-house ride,'' Shane says. ''I think we'll do it as an homage to Fellini in the Fellini style, but accessibly.''

I don't know which part of that pains me the most.

I think "accessibly" should be the most painful. It's like he kicks you in the crotch, kicks you while your down, then, just for spite, spits in your wounds.

Just had a thought. There is no clear outline of how to do it because it just came to me. Maybe it's dumb but anyway.

What if we start an email in disfavor of the film getting made, we all sign it and make everyone else we know sign it and the people they know and so on and when the list gets huge we send it to the men themselves (producers, revivalists - Michel Shane and Anthony Romano). And they can decide what to do with it, but it might come in handy while they're not getting the finance.

I saw we just place a curse on them.

Anyone know a medicine man or shaman?

Fellini's erotic drawings a crowdpuller in Austria

KREMS, Austria (AFP) - Erotic drawings by Italian film director Federico Fellini showing his unusual taste in women are proving popular with art lovers in Austria, where an exhibition opened this month.

A gallery in Krems, north Austria, has seen great interest in its "Erotomachia" exhibition, which assembles 29 erotic drawings sketched by Fellini in his twilight years 1991-1992, a spokeswoman for the Karikaturmuseam, Katrin Draxl, told AFP.

The drawings feature his last mistress -- Gianna -- with whom Fellini spent several years before his death in 1993 at the age of 73.

Fellini, who directed the Oscar-winning classic "La Dolce Vita", as well as "Amarcord" and "La Strada", was a keen artist and regularly drew the scenes to his films.

The drawings of Gianna show a sizeable woman, strong and sensual, contrasted with a small man, almost faceless, who serves as her toy.

The exhibition runs until January 29.

Quote from: MacGuffinFinal 'Journey'
Lost Fellini project will finally be filmed -- The ''8 1/2'' director's last unfinished project, ''Journey to Tulum,'' is being revived Source: Entertainment Weekly

Fellini's never-filmed project Journey to Tulum is being revived by producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano (I, Robot), who stumbled upon it during a visit to Italy.

Shane is hoping to attract backing for the movie, which will be in English, from an indie company; Marco Bartoloccioni — who helped rediscover the outline a few years ago — is directing. ''It'll be completely far-out, but it won't be an art-house ride,'' Shane says. ''I think we'll do it as an homage to Fellini in the Fellini style, but accessibly.''

''No one's told me not to make the movie.''

Someone put a bullet through this man's brain, and fast.

This eerily reminds me of some of the pitches in The Player...

I say, "make the movie." It's just a forgotten Fellini project. It's not really to say he put the time and energy in most of his films the way a Stanley Kubrick did. Between Barry Lyndon and The Shining, Fellini made 5 films. I wish he would have dropped many films he did to concentrate on fewer. A lot fewer.

Fellini made three in between those two. And how do you know how much effort he put into unrealized projects? He nearly killed himself trying to make the Voyage of M_ (can't exactly remember the title)...

Why waste loads of money and resources on what sounds like a retarded reason for making a project AND smear the name of a legend at the same time? Punishable by death is what it should be.

Quote from: SoNowThenFellini made three in between those two. And how do you know how much effort he put into unrealized projects? He nearly killed himself trying to make the Voyage of M_ (can't exactly remember the title)...

I don't have it with me, but I remember reading a Kubrick book and the exact example being 5. (Fellini was being interviewed and was astonished how much Kubrick invested in one film. Fellini something along the lines he had enough difficulty getting financing for each film) I also really won't argue with you though.

Quote from: SoNowThenWhy waste loads of money and resources on what sounds like a retarded reason for making a project AND smear the name of a legend at the same time? Punishable by death is what it should be.

Thing is, I'm not sure if its really smearing the name of a legend. This isn't Fellini's name being used as director still, the way Robert Ludlum is continually is credited as 'author' of books that are coming out when he's dead. Its just a project Fellini worked on, the way Schindler's List trickled from Kubrick to Scorsese and then finally to Speilberg. I doubt that is much of any offense.

i think it's very clear that this producer's desire to make this film is for the built in press surrounding such an endeavour. rather than an attempt to continue fellini's visual and theoretical lineage. In essence they're saying " we're trying to make a fellini film, with fellini's sensibilities, but just more accessbile. Making it more "accessible", in essence would be deviating from the very archetype that made it a fellini film in the first place. It's more or less saying, fellini was known for being bizarre - we're going to make a "fellini film", just not as bizarre - Then its not really a fellini film, is it? So why make it at all? $$$$$$$$, thats why.

Quote from: cowboykurtisi think it's very clear that this producer's desire to make this film is for the built in press surrounding such an endeavour. rather than an attempt to continue fellini's visual and theoretical lineage. In essence they're saying " we're trying to make a fellini film, with fellini's sensibilities, but just more accessbile. Making it more "accessible", in essence would be deviating from the very archetype that made it a fellini film in the first place. It's more or less saying, fellini was known for being bizarre - we're going to make a "fellini film", just not as bizarre - Then its not really a fellini film, is it? So why make it at all? $$$$$$$$, thats why.

Well, yea, but who gives a shit. It will be just another movie. And maybe, at best, it may make some wide-eyed kid interested in really digging into Fellini. There are many more terrible crimes out there in the film world.

Quote from: The Gold Trumpet
Well, yea, but who gives a shit. It will be just another movie. And maybe, at best, it may make some wide-eyed kid interested in really digging into Fellini. There are many more terrible crimes out there in the film world.

I for one give a shit - and it seems SO NOW THEN does as well.

Am I going to lose sleep over it? No. But, at the end of they day, it seems that one who is not alive to protect their namesake, should at least have a governing force preventing opportunists from disgracing their legacy.

Fellini didn't make this film for one reason or another - Either he explored it and decided that the idea was not worth continuing -- Or he wasnt able to get it made, so gave up the fight.

It's like sperm - The strong ones turn into children, the weak one's don't.

In this situation, we're talking about a scientist trying to take weak sperm and fertilize an egg - and what do you get? a weak child, or even worse a retarded child.

So, now you have some wide-eyed kid watching a retarded kid and assuming everything created by fellini was just that - retarded. So this wide-eyed kid who could have naturally discovered the strong, brilliant films of Fellini, just like every other kid,  has now been cheated by some old fuck trying to make a dollar.

and that is a crime. as bad as they get in the film world.

so wait, if a really great film was about retarded people, does it make it a retarded kid or what?

and i'm with you cowboy, these people are digging up fellini and necrophilizing his repertoire.

Quote from: cowboykurtisand that is a crime. as bad as they get in the film world.

Oh, as bad as von Stroheim's full length version of Greed likely lost forever. All we are left of that version is actually a fraction of the original length. Also, there was the fact Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev was cut drastically and unreleased in its entire version for many years. Sam Fuller's The Big Red One will also never get its entire release. Last year's 'Reconstruction' only made up for some of went missing. Though Fuller in his auto-biography says the entire version is available in some vault, thats really not true.

Then what about all the worthy foreign films that are not available in the United States? Forget those not on DVD and maybe just available only on cheap but expensive VHS tapes. What about Syberberg's Hitler: A film from Germany, merely available online only? So many worthy filmmakers really have no breath of recognition in this country. So c'mon, this abandoned/unrealized work by Fellini, really is not even close to the other crimes in the film world. Fellini hardly realized many of the films he finished in his later years anyways.

i think it's up there with what you mentioned. Not as severe, but up there.

And I don't think you can make comparissions in order validate what this man is trying to do.  The mechanics behind it are very different. We're not talking about lost film elements, or lack of availability. we're talking about a man trying to profit on a dead man's legacy. that's pretty fucking scummy in my book.

Very similar to what the author of EYES WIDE OPEN did (Rafael, I believe?)

On a side note - A few years ago I saw a print of the 4 hour cut of GREED - unbelievably impressive. rivals INTOLERANCE. However, I think Greed is more sophisticated in execution.

would love to get my hands on a copy of it.

This is getting insane. It's not like this film was made by Fellini, lost and then instead of found again, was remade by a more topical filmmaker at a larger compromise to take its place. Fellini's dead. He had his time to make this film. Every filmmaker who is able to have a durable and varied career leaves behind projects that never were done. (whatever the reason may be) Why is there no rucus for their lost works being re-done? Its because some people understand filmmakers dabble with many projects and just can't get to all of them. And when the project is able to be bought out, that means the filmmaker's family thinks it was worth selling or the filmmaker committed the story to a studio knowing full well if he didn't touch it, it could be sold.

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetThis is getting insane. It's not like this film was made by Fellini, lost and then instead of found again, was remade by a more topical filmmaker at a larger compromise to take its place. Fellini's dead. He had his time to make this film. Every filmmaker who is able to have a durable and varied career leaves behind projects that never were done. (whatever the reason may be) Why is there no rucus for their lost works being re-done? Its because some people understand filmmakers dabble with many projects and just can't get to all of them. And when the project is able to be bought out, that means the filmmaker's family thinks it was worth selling or the filmmaker committed the story to a studio knowing full well if he didn't touch it, it could be sold.

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetIt's just a forgotten Fellini project. It's not really to say he put the time and energy in most of his films the way a Stanley Kubrick did.

The above remark about Kubrick informed your opinions for me.

Obviously our evaluation of this situation differs greatly.

I can only assume you do not view Fellini in the same arena as Kubrick....I, on the other hand, do.

You state, the the reason for little to no rukus about filmmakers' projects being re-done after their death is due to an understanding of the mechanics behind art and commerce within the industry.

For instance, if we were talking about a lesser filmmaker - Say, Wes Craven dies and a studio produces some scripts he had developed. For me thats a very different situation.

There are very few film directors who reach the prestige to be included in the same arena as Fellini. Furthermore, most do not have a successful enough career to have an "estate".

For me, filmmakers like Fellini and Kubrick and Bergman and Bunuel transcend the title "filmmaker" - They go down in history with the likes of Mozart, Da Vinci,  Rembrandt, etc.  And because of this built in prestige, estates are formed to keep the integrity and protection in tact for that said artist.

I can assure you someone like Joel Scumacher won't have an active estate after he passes away. Nor much of a legacy to protect or maintain.

Furthermore, from a business standpoint Fellini and other's of his stature were not contract players, developing projects for studios. ( and im aware of kubrick's deal with WB, which was far from a traditionally structured contract - it was very much with his best interests in tact)

I know you distinguished your stance on Kubriock taking more care in development. But concerning your opinions expressed on an artist's rights, and the inevitablity of his work subject to the fingers of commerce; Would you have the same ambivelence if Napoleon was made? (without the guidance and support of Jan Harlan, Christiane, etc)

Quote from: cowboykurtisWould you have the same ambivelence if Napoleon was made? (without the guidance and support of Jan Harlan, Christiane, etc)

Thing is, it won't so I'm very happy that it won't. If it did, sure, I'd be peeved. That is why the family has rights to protect these projects. If they release the project, its their decision.

As far as I'm concerned, Fellini is the greater artist to Kubrick. I've very much fallen off the way side with Kubrick as far as esteem goes. Thing is, a Kubrick project was different. He put everything into a film. I wish Fellini would have done just half the films he completed. His sloppiness at the end I think gives a little less value to his projects.

Schumacher definitely will not carry such esteem as either of these filmmakers. Thing is, another filmmaker who's scripts are getting made postemously, does. Akira Kurosawa, since his death, has had screenplays adapted into films by other filmmakers. I never hear a ruckus about that.

Two small things:

I remember reading the same thing you mentioned, GT, in a Kubrick bio, about Fellini and his output during those years, it had something to do with Kubrick monitoring projection lenses in theatres showing his movies, and Fellini saying how impressed he was at the control/care Kubrick took in regards this kinda thing. But even if the book said 5, the correct number is 3. Director bio writers are notoriously lazy with real research, when it comes to figures.

Secondly, people really slag off later Fellini, but I had the pleasure of catching NFT's Fellini season last year, and I thought that Ginger And Fred, Intervista, and Voice Of The Moon (particularly G&F) were all amazing. Have you seen all the later Fellinis? I don't think he was getting lazy. Even he said, with Voice Of... that he was starting to approach perhaps another turning point in style, but then of course he died... mutherfuck....

Quote from: SoNowThenSecondly, people really slag off later Fellini, but I had the pleasure of catching NFT's Fellini season last year, and I thought that Ginger And Fred, Intervista, and Voice Of The Moon (particularly G&F) were all amazing. Have you seen all the later Fellinis? I don't think he was getting lazy. Even he said, with Voice Of... that he was starting to approach perhaps another turning point in style, but then of course he died... mutherfuck....

Ginger and Fred is the worst offense of his later works for me. If ever a film felt stagnant without anything happening, it was that. I continously thought it was going to start picking up, but never did. And the Ship Sails On is the one later Fellini film I really do like, but I'd like to hear what makes you so fond of Ginger and Fred.

I thought Masina was heartbreaking, moreso than in any of her bigger movies w/ Fellini. The stars and the director getting old and really sadly looking back and pondering a life in showbiz, it got to me. Plus, the crazy fake commercials added a nice bit of surreal intensity to the whole thing. I remember it being a very great cinema experience, one of those (many) nights when I wander out of the NFT, knock back a Stella, and sit overlooking the Thames and just smile at how much I enjoyed the picture.

I'm watching Fellini:  I'm a Born Liar and there are all these scenes that are badass and I've never seen.  Two in particular I feel the need to immediately see.

If anyone can help:

1.  A fake ocean.  A woman comes out of a building that a group of kids have been huddled outside of, peeping through a hole.  The woman walks towards the water.

2.  "But who will dance the congo for you?"  "I'm sick of the congo."  I just looked up and that was being said and then the scene ended.

Modification:

Everyone should watch this show.

3.  There's a woman on a bed.  She is wearing red, the bed is white.  There is a girl ghost above her.

Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on October 02, 2005, 01:26:32 PM

Quote from: SoNowThenSecondly, people really slag off later Fellini, but I had the pleasure of catching NFT's Fellini season last year, and I thought that Ginger And Fred, Intervista, and Voice Of The Moon (particularly G&F) were all amazing. Have you seen all the later Fellinis? I don't think he was getting lazy. Even he said, with Voice Of... that he was starting to approach perhaps another turning point in style, but then of course he died... mutherfuck....

Ginger and Fred is the worst offense of his later works for me. If ever a film felt stagnant without anything happening, it was that. I continuously thought it was going to start picking up, but never did. And the Ship Sails On is the one later Fellini film I really do like, but I'd like to hear what makes you so fond of Ginger and Fred.

I'm a huge late-Fellini fan as well. The only film I have yet to see is Voice of the Moon (ARG!!!). Ginger and Fred is fantastic! It has a very eerie twilight to it. The atmosphere just kills me, knocks me out you know? The lighting is so predominant in that it bathes everything in this kind of harsh glow. It's one of the only times I can remember that I walked away with a clear message from a Fellini film. I still love it.

My ranking of his post-Casanova films:

1. Intervista (1987)
2. Ginger and Fred (1986)
3. Orchestra Rehearsal (1979)
4.  ...and the ship sails on (1984)
5. City of Women (1980)

I'd kill my mother to see Voice of the Moon.

Does anyone here happen to think that the upcoming release of that turgid looking "new" Casanova will spark new interest in Fellini's Casanova? Perhaps initiating sweet, sweet R1 DVD release?

Casanova was just released here in England. It's pretty solid.

But heres' the thing, the recently released R2 Casanova isn't the directors cut! And seeing as how this is a director who ALWAYS had final cut... What the heck is missing? The original version is supposedly 177 minutes. I think the R2 version is something like 150 minutes isn't it?

Italian running time was 165 min, at the request of Universal and the Producer, Fellini had his editing team trim an additional 15 min (no scenes were lost, apparently, just shortened) for the French and English versions. So as with the BFI version of Il Bidone (which was a longer and better English version than the US one), this Casanova is as the British originally saw it... which is the best thing we have for now.

It also comes with a great interview with Sutherland.

Fellini script 'Viaggio' on new voyage
Source: Hollywood Reporter

ROME -- Work will start early next year on "Viaggio a Tulum" (Voyage to Tulum), a Mexico-based story written by iconic Italian director Federico Fellini but not started during the director's lifetime.

The news is the first to emerge from the Business Street market at the second RomaCinemaFest, which got under way Thursday.

The project will officially launch at a briefing to be held at the Hotel Flora -- which housed Fellini's offices in Rome -- which are now hosting part of the Business Street.

The film, which will center on Fellini's trip to Mexico to meet the famous mystic Carlos Castaneda, will be filmed in Mexico and at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, with a budget of at least €3.5 million ($5 million).

Filming is expected to start Jan. 20, 2008, which would have been the 88th birthday for Fellini, who died in 1993.

The film's backers say they have secured about half of the funding they need already, most of it from Mexican investors and the Mexican government.

Fellini wrote "Viaggio a Tulum" in 1985, and it was published in book form by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera a year later. But it was never made into a film.

The project will be directed by documentary maker Marco Bartoccioni. Fellini and Tullio Pinelli -- who adapted Fellini's original work -- will share screenwriting credits.

Most of the cast members have yet to be named, but the film's backers said leads will be named at next month's Cancun Film Festival in Mexico.

Juliet of the Spirits airs tonight on TCM as part of Mark Mothersbaugh's Guest Programming.
It shall be my first viewing if my DVR does not eff up.

Just watched a double feature of La Strada and Nights of Cabria the other night. Just two exemplary films that hit me in the heart. Especially the performances. Really just cried. Well, if you ever need to have a good cry I'd watch those two back to back. If you're a woman and your man used you-DEFINITELY watch Nights of Cabria. It'll be cathartic... Before those two I had only seen La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and amarcord. What's next is 'intervista' plus 'and the ship sails on' as far as my Felinni is concerned

'And The Ship Sails On'

Unfortunately, I didn't get into this as much as I hoped. Although I didn't have high expectations either. It still had that fellini feel and touch but I guess it wasn't absurd enough for me. Its still flourishes in imaginative ways but the characters I spent time with weren't as interesting and open as films in the past for me. Mostly I think because 'the well to do' and extravagant characters were so familiar to me that I was slightly bored with them. Rich old men and women were people I grew up around so some of this no matter how fanciful or depressed they were acting didn't shock me. The score and most of the story or the lack thereof intrigued me enough to hang on.

'Intervista'

Damn, this was a fun ride. A movie within a movie within a movie. I enjoyed it way too much and its strange to say so since it might not be well known. Well not as well known as I personally want it to be. 80's haircuts, blemishing color, confusing and ridiculous, they hit how film people are and how exactly they interact. I believe this is his second to last film he ever put out there and it shows because he's free flowing. Not really caring how he's portrayed all that much.

Your words about And The Ship Sails On could be mine. Kind of disappointed me, even though it has its moments of ridiculousness (what?) that worked fine. It's completely felliniesque, but it's also minor Fellini.

Also, La Strada has to be one of the best movies ever made. It's touching, and heartbreaking and Giulietta Masina was just a perfect actress. There are a lot of Fellinis I haven't seen yet, but he was one of the greats.

I watched Toby Dammit last night, just the right of dose of everything great about Fellini. I loved it, especially the visuals. Everything was so exact, right on the money. I can really see where filmmakers like Scorcese and Lynch adopted some of their stylization from, and I forgot the fact that the man is a comedic genius. His films are entertaining and funny through and through. When you hear his name dropped so many times under the pretension that he's a 'serious filmmaker' you tend to forget that. He's serious in that he wants to make good shit for people to watch.

So I've seen 8 1/2, Nights of Cabiria, Amacord, and Satyricon. That was years ago but I want to see something fresh from him that will make me love movies, what do you suggest?

Try Juliet of the Spirits next. From what you say, it looks like your next best choice.

La Dolce Vita will make you love movies, the world, and life in general.

everything except its last hour-ish.  it's been a while since i've seen the movie but it entered the dubious realm of redundancy for me during its third act, but if you haven't seen it it's a must.  the majority of it is lovely, the ending especially.  the blond girl has one of the most beautiful faces ever put on screen. 

i vitelloni is amazing and inexplicably overlooked.  i'll second the juliet of the spirits rec.

I thought of La Dolce Vita and I Vitelloni, but from what he was talking about, it seemed like Juliet of the Spirits made the most sense in what he wanted. La Dolce Vita is an epic, but it's a hollow film about a hollow culture and it doesn't have all the Fellini personality charm. You have to look at it from a different lens. In small ways, it reminds me of Satyricon. There is more structure disconnect in these two films. I Vitelloni has all the Fellini charm, but it's one of his first films. There is no style regard at all. Juliet of the Spirits just makes sense as next step and he can go find the ways to appreciate the other films as well.

So if I had to choose between La Dolce Vita and La Strada...

I'd say it's not a choice. Watch both. La Strada first, maybe...

Edit: with kleenex.

i wouldn't say that there's no regard for style in i vitelloni so much as it is muted compared to how incredibly prevalent it is in his other work.  i can't cite anything specific as it's been forever since i last saw it but the film has an intense sense of subjective, intimate, and very personal memory, something that i think can only be conveyed through style.  the finale of the film strikes me as being fellini-esque in the traditional sense of the "word" and with how relatively austere (for fellini, anyway) the rest of the film is, it becomes pretty transcendental.     

reelist, between the two, i'd say see nights of cabiria if you haven't seen it.  it's my favorite fellini and a staple on my top five of all time.

Quote from: samsong on December 19, 2010, 03:23:17 PM
i wouldn't say that there's no regard for style in i vitelloni so much as it is muted compared to how incredibly prevalent it is in his other work.  i can't cite anything specific as it's been forever since i last saw it but the film has an intense sense of subjective, intimate, and very personal memory, something that i think can only be conveyed through style.  the finale of the film strikes me as being fellini-esque in the traditional sense of the "word" and with how relatively austere (for fellini, anyway) the rest of the film is, it becomes pretty transcendental.      

reelist, between the two, i'd say see nights of cabiria if you haven't seen it.  it's my favorite fellini and a staple on my top five of all time.

It has all the qualities you say which makes its structure stands out, but Fellini was paying homage to good attributes of neo-realist filmmakers. I don't credit it his with his style because the film was a beginner's work for Fellini. His writing already was unique and that helps out the structure more than anything.


But I need to see it again as well. I take my argument only that far so any rebuttal will be understood with a limited disagreement.

'I Vitelloni' (SPOILERS)

A movie I desparetely connected with being from that type of town. I felt like Moraldo when I left for college, yearning for more, wanting anything more than what Modesto, my slight small town, could offer me. I knew a lot of these type of people growing up. Watching these people were like watching my friends from high school fucking around and being way too comfortable. Its a fasciating and accurate portrayal of young people feeling disilluisioned, and probably the one of the notoble first films exploring this idea. Only to be copied many times over and over.

Quote from: SiliasRuby on January 13, 2011, 07:22:04 PM
'I Vitelloni' (SPOILERS)

A movie I desparetely connected with being from that type of town. I felt like Moraldo when I left for college, yearning for more, wanting anything more than what Modesto, my slight small town, could offer me. I knew a lot of these type of people growing up. Watching these people were like watching my friends from high school fucking around and being way too comfortable. Its a fasciating and accurate portrayal of young people feeling disilluisioned, and probably the one of the notoble first films exploring this idea. Only to be copied many times over and over.

very well put.

'Roma'
I just couldn't get into this. I finished it and its completely him but it felt more meandering than usual. Its brilliant, don't get me wrong but I just couldn't connect with any of the characters. The traffic jam scene was epic though.

I'l bidone
So many con/grifter movies have been so poorly that we sometimes forget what its like when its done well. I won't give too much away cause its a film about a bunch of cons but what I will tell you that I was sincerely surprised at the adept skill

'Juliet of the Spirits'
Colorful and exciting-this film is now one of my favorites as far as Fellini goes. The camera moves delicately amonst the cast of characters I fell in love with. Juliet's naivety and staunch underlying sadness brings an extra later to this film that is filled mysticism and poignancy. Fellini always seemed to capture actors with such sadness splattered on their face that it is imaginable that this picture could be anyone but his.