8½

'''8½''' (Italian: '''Otto e mezzo''') is a 1963 film written and directed by Italian director Federico Fellini. It is regularly acclaimed by film critics and fans alike as one of the finest films ever made; it consistently ranks in the "top ten best movies ever" lists by cinema institutes and academies; in a recent poll of film directors conducted by the British Film Institute, ''8½'' was ranked 3rd best film of all time.^[1] The film was shot in black-and-white by influential and innovative cinematographer Gianni di Venanzo, and features a soundtrack by Nino Rota.

Contents

Synopsis

Cast

Themes

Autobiographical elements

Production

Technical details

Awards

Influence

References

External links

Synopsis

The plot revolves around an Italian film director, Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), who is suffering from "director's block". He is supposed to be directing an ill-defined science fiction film but has lost interest amid artistic and marital difficulties. As Guido struggles half-heartedly to work on the film, a series of flashbacks and dreams delve into his memories and fantasies; they are frequently interwoven and confused with reality.

Cast

★ Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi

★ Claudia Cardinale as Claudia

★ Anouk Aimée as Luisa Anselmi

★ Sandra Milo as Carla

★ Rossella Falk as Rossella

★ Barbara Steele as Gloria Morin

★ Madeleine LeBeau as Madeleine

★ Caterina Boratto as La signora misteriosa

★ Eddra Gale as La Saraghina

★ Guido Alberti as Pace

★ Mario Conocchia as Conocchia

★ Bruno Agostini as Il segretario di produzione

★ Cesarino Miceli Picardi as Cesarino

★ Jean Rougeul as Carini

★ Mario Pisu as Mario Mezzabotta

Themes

''8½'' is about the struggles involved in the creative process, both technical and personal, and the problems artists face when expected to deliver something personal and profound with intense public scrutiny, on a constricted schedule, while simultaneously having to deal with their own personal relationships. It is, in a larger sense, about finding true personal happiness in a difficult, fragmented life. Finally, like many Italian films of the period (and most famously evident in the films of Fellini's contemporary, Michelangelo Antonioni), ''8½'' is about the alienating effects of modernization.^[2]

Autobiographical elements

''8½'' is highly autobiographical: Fellini made the film because he himself was suffering from a director's block; the character of Guido (played by Mastroianni, whom Fellini often used to mirror himself in his films) is a representation of himself and many of Guido's memories are based on Fellini's own. Because of this, ''8½'' is a recursive film: a film about the creation of itself.
Fellini did not originally intend the film to be so obviously autobiographical. According to screenwriter Tullio Kezich, in the original script, Guido was a writer who could not finish his novel. However, when Fellini found out that Marcello Mastroianni had just played a writer in Michelangelo Antonioni’s ''La notte'', he changed the character into a movie director, explaining, "How am I going to ask Marcello to play a writer again? He’ll end up believing he’s one and he’ll write a novel."^[3]
The title refers to the total number of films Fellini had previously directed: six films plus three collaborations (one of them, ''Boccaccio '70'', counted as half a film as it was a short segment), making this production number 8½.^[4] Its working title was ''La bella confusione'' (''The Beautiful Confusion'').
Four years after completing ''8½'', life imitated art. Fellini's producer, Dino de Laurentiis, had invested in an expensive replica of Cologne Cathedral and other huge sets that had been built in Cinecittà for Fellini's film ''Il viaggio di G. Mastorna''. Fellini then informed de Laurentiis that he would not finish the film. De Laurentiis was furious, much like the producer in ''8½''.

Production

During production, Fellini handwrote a note to himself and attached it to the camera below the viewfinder so that he would constantly see it when filming. It stated, "''Ricordati che è un film comico''". ("Remember, this is a comedy.").
As with most Italian films of this period the sound was entirely dubbed in afterwards; following a technique dear to Fellini many lines of the dialogue were written only during post production, while the actors on the set mouthed random lines. One noticeable post-production error occurs when Marcello Mastroianni is waiting at the station and Sandra Milo's train is heard arriving off-screen — we hear the whistling of a steam engine, but when the train finally appears, it is being hauled by a diesel locomotive. This film marks the first time actress Claudia Cardinale was allowed to dub her own dialogue — previously her voice was thought to be too throaty and, coupled with her Tunisian accent, was considered undesirable.^[5]

Technical details

''8½'' was filmed in the spherical cinematographic process, using 35-millimeter film, and was exhibited with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.

Awards

''8½'' won two Academy Award, Award for Best Foreign Film and Best Costume Design (Black and White). It received three other Academy Award nominations: Best Director, Best Original Story and Screenplay, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White). The film won all of the seven awards it was nominated for at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. It won the top award of the Moscow Film Festival.
''8½'' is a fixture on the prestigious ''Sight & Sound'' critics' and directors' polls of the top ten films ever made. It ranks number three on the magazine's "Directors' Top Ten Poll", and number nine on the "Critics' Top Ten Poll", from 2002.^[1]
It is considered the 4th best Foreign Language film of all time by the Screen Directory. Top Ten Listings: Foreign Language

Influence

The musical ''Nine'' and the Canadian television series ''More Tears'' are both based on ''8½'' .
The movie ''A Cock and Bull Story'', has some thematic parallels to ''8½'', and features music from the film.
Terry Gilliam's movie ''Brazil'' had the working title of ''1984½''. This signified both the influence of Fellini and the George Orwell novel ''1984'' on Gilliam's film.
Peter Greenaway's ''8½ Women'' is a nod to Fellini's film. Woody Allen's ''Stardust Memories'' is modeled on ''8½'' , as is Bob Fosse's ''All That Jazz''.
A scene in Paul McGuigan's ''Wicker Park'', when Lisa (Diane Kruger) tells Matthew (Josh Hartnett) that her shoe size is 8½, Matthew responds, "like Fellini".
"A little bit of love", a 2007 music video directed by Remi Rybicki for the Irish-Canadian celtic-punk band The Mahones, is based in part on the Saraghina dance scene. The video is also black-and-white.
In Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes's ''Ghost World'', in a sterile Blockbusteresque video store ironically named "Masterpiece Video", the clerk is approached by a customer (played by Daniel Graves) who requests a copy of ''8½''. Befuddled, the clerk asks if it is a new release. The customer informs him that it is a classic. The clerk obliges and starts a search on the store's computer. Confidently, the clerk says, "Yes. Here it is. ''9½ Weeks'' with Mickey Rourke. It is located in the 'erotic drama' section." The clerk smiles pleasantly. The stunned customer corrects him, "''8½'' not ''9½''! The Fellini film." The clerk stares blankly.
The video clip for REM's song "Everybody Hurts" is largely inspired by the opening sequence to the film.
The opening sequence in Joel Schumacher's Falling Down is an homage to ''8½''. Just like ''8½'', the film starts with the protagonist sitting in a car in a traffic jam on a very hot day.

References

1. Directors' Top Ten Poll
2. Screening the Past
3. http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=140&eid=188§ion=essay
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/04/17/eight_and_a_half_1962_review.shtml
5. 8½, Criterion Collection DVD, featured commentary track.
6. Directors' Top Ten Poll

External links

★ The collection of the Museum of Modern Art: Federico Fellini

★

★ Criterion Collection essay by Federico Fellini

★ Criterion Collection essay by Alexander Sesonske

★ Criterion Collection essay by Federico Fellini

★ In depth review of film and influences