They castigate the myth of Latin Lover and rip apart chauvinist fantasy.
Just as you say, Fellini’s movies remain dazzling, inspirational - but I must add that they also present an indictment of male privilege.
My compliments for this overview, and my gratitude. Streaming on the Criterion Channel, Kanopy and Amazon Prime In the end the only certainty is that Guido will never change. This scenario is punctuated by fantasies, including a joyless orgy featuring his multiple love interests. Rather than addressing the problem, he seeks conflict and distraction, bringing his frivolous mistress, Carla, and embittered wife, Luisa, to the spa hotel where his production crew is staying. Other aspects of the production are mired by his creative impasse. There is a vast set, a rocket launchpad, all under construction.
Guido is in the middle of a crisis with a grand sci-fi movie project. He is soon yanked back to earth, and the film’s proper begins by introducing him as a jaded film director. Guido, the movie’s protagonist, ascends into the sky from his car and floats away. O ften thought of as Fellini’s definitive statement, the film opens in traffic gridlock. Federico Fellini (all images courtesy the Criterion Collection, unless otherwise stated) 8½ (1963) His was a celebratory type of masculinity and entitlement, where women must seek adoration or, if implicated in men’s fantasies, submit to desire.įrom 8 1/2 (1963), dir. Pliant to his imagination, male characters are often torn between creative integrity and superficial love. He imposed ideals of grace and decorum on his creations.
His Machiavellian control produced delectable visions. Revisiting Fellini’s extensive oeuvre on the centenary of his birth presents me with their panoramic elegance, yet their chauvinism is equally disturbing.įellini fine-tuned the profession of auteur, making a movie a personal journey, a dynamic montage where time is caressed, mise-en-scène enchanted, and every take a ballet. They make frequent appearances on lists of the best movies of all time and major directors such as Lina Wertmüller and Stanley Kubrick champion their influence. 1979 (image via Wikimedia Commons)Įxquisitely choreographed, Federico Fellini’s works sparkle with ingenuity. From left: Renzo Rossellini, Daniel Toscan du Plantier and Federico Fellini on the set of City of Women, ca.
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