8 1/2
A Federico Fellini Film
The towering masterpiece of Federico Fellini's career follows burned-out celebrity director Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) through a series of daily encounters and wild daydreams, the first of which finds him ascending into the clouds during a traffic jam. Seeking solace and rejuvenation at a remote health spa for the rich and privileged, he continues to encounter journalists, his producer, his mistress, and most inconvenient of all, his aloof wife, Luisa (A Man And A Woman's Anouk Aimee). Flashing among past, present, future, and fantasy, Guido longs to make a pure and honest film while his producer goads him into a big budget science fiction spectacle.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, this visually dazzling epic marked a turning point in Fellini's career and features an amazing gallery of actors including Claudia Cardinale (The Pink Panther), Barbara Steele (Black Sunday), and Rossella Falk (Modesty Blaise). Outrageous and unforgettable, 8 1/2 will transport your soul and change your life!
Member Reviews
I just couldn't continue to watch it - marcela
Maybe I need to take a film class on Fellini's movies to understand what made it so great. I couldn't watch it though. I saw about 15-20 min and was so bored. Some of it is quite surreal - esp the beginning. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it. And the Italian music in the background really got on my nerves. I enjoyed the makeup and hairstyle on the girls. Funny how it's come back in style. To watch this movie, I recommend that people be prepared to enjoy a true film rather than anything Hollywood or modern.Essential Cinema - eoguy
When I first saw this movie in college, I liked it for it's dream-like structure, insightful observations on society and its engaging "Fellini" quality. I did not truly appreciate its profound questioning of the meaning of life until many years later.
Art snobs may claim that movies have never soared to the heights of Shakespeare, Michelangelo or Beethoven, but Fellini's 8 1/2 is a work that can hold its own with Hamlet, the David or the 9th Symphony.
In light of all of the reviewers who talk about studying this movie in film school, I urge people not to look at 8 1/2 only as an example of masterful technique but also to see the urgent humanity of this vibrant, raging, transcendent work of art.
The Criterion disc set is lovingly presented. Several of Fellini's movies can be enjoyed on the kick-back-and-fire-up-the-corn-popper level, but you owe it to yourself to give 8 1/2 your full attention.surreal, very funny, and oddly affecting - clauditorium
The opening dream sequence is astounding. The entire film, in fact, blurs the line between reality and fantasy, often seeming like a dream or a painting. It is surreal, very funny, and oddly affecting, but it meanders a bit too much, which dilutes its power.
Member Reviews
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I just couldn't continue to watch it - marcela
Maybe I need to take a film class on Fellini's movies to understand what made it so great. I couldn't watch it though. I saw about 15-20 min and was so bored. Some of it is quite surreal - esp the beginning. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it. And the ...Essential Cinema - eoguy
When I first saw this movie in college, I liked it for it's dream-like structure, insightful observations on society and its engaging "Fellini" quality. I did not truly appreciate its profound questioning of the meaning of life until many years later.
Art ...surreal, very funny, and oddly affecting - clauditorium
The opening dream sequence is astounding. The entire film, in fact, blurs the line between reality and fantasy, often seeming like a dream or a painting. It is surreal, very funny, and oddly affecting, but it meanders a bit too much, which dilutes its power.