8 1/2How do movies get made? Is it the calculated coordination of rising action, climax, descending action mixed up in a cauldron with blood, sweat, and tears? Is it the magical manifestation of dreams given flesh? There is some alchemy in the transmutation of imagination into celluloid, but perhaps less than we expect. Sometimes, it's just a matter of hard work and drive; probably more than that, but at least that, too. Famed director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) struggles to find his groove to make the ambitious next entry into his body of work. His mind wanders, carrying him further downstream into the currents of his fantasy.
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More often than not, when someone describes a film about making a film, they're talking about 8 1/2; but that's a bit of an oversimplification, like saying 2001: A Space Odyssey is about evolution. Ironically, 8 1/2 is more about the process of not making a movie. Guido must have already sold the idea about another picture--or been pressured into making one by his commanding producer, Pace (Guido Alberti)--because he already has a crew and budget waiting on his decisions, his direction, even just the story, an issue he dances around with a starring actress, Madeleine (Madeleine LeBeau). Guido's thoughts drift to scenes he envisions in his head, ones which are inventive and engaging, but presumably have nothing to do with the plot of his own "movie" he has taken the responsibility to create. Instead, Guido dodges and evades, lies and deceives...perhaps he even believes his lies are the truth, as his wife, Luisa (Anouk Aimée) insists, having discovered that the location of the film production also happens to be the destination of Guido's mistress, Carla (Sandra Milo). To emphasize the state of Guido's almost self-destructive desire to draw forth any kind of disaster unto himself, he has consciously invited them both to visit him; what did he expect? Guido retreats into his imagination--usually when things get overwhelming--and allows himself to live in his fantasy, a realm where he can (usually) control the outcome of events. One great example of this is when he envisions all the women he has been involved with and has lusted after all in a harem to worship him; but even he realizes the ridiculousness of this puerile male fantasy, and his subconscious doesn't allow him even this self-gratification, as the women turn on him. Considering Guido's comprehensive shutdown of responsibility and accountability, it's a wonder he ever made anything to begin with. But one can assume that he has had a moment not unlike what he discusses with the member of the Catholic Church, who makes an allusion to Saul of Damascus when Guido attempts to draw forth motivation for the ostensible main character in his drama suffering from Catholic guilt. Just as Saul experienced a transformative moment which altered his perception and made him into a better man, so should Guido in his awareness of his previous vices; all Guido discovers is that he is drowning in a sea of his own devising, and flounders as he sinks deep to the inky trenches below.
Part of the torment Guido experiences comes from that anxiety which grabs anyone who feels tasked to create. Speaking for myself, I know that it is the most intimidating thing in the world to stare at a blank page, more so when you know that what you produce comes with certain expectations from others. Guido has it worse, because he seems determined to sabotage his efforts, hiring a writer who considers the subject of a science fiction story beneath him, and never ceases to serve as the proverbial "negative Nancy", a manifestation of Guido's own doubt and anxiety and justification for his desire to just give up. Guido preoccupies himself by sneaking away from any moment where he might be called upon to deliver a definitive decision about his work-in-progress, but tours the movie in the works, one now out of his control completely. Superficially, 8 1/2 resembles a kind of walk through the chaos and excess that accompanies a big-budget picture, one where the production offices even host a cozy nook where sisters in lingerie entertain one of the higher-ups, and massive structures are built at great expense, simply because a backdrop would look "less realistic"...even though a backdrop will be superimposed over it to make it "look" like the spaceship it is meant to look. Guido makes his way through his self-imposed anarchy, humming the "Barber of Seville Overture", as if some part of him thrives in the chaos. His marriage disintegrates before our eyes, his infidelity is mirrored in the screen tests displayed on the large screen for all--including his wife--to witness in a self-abasing and humiliating experience he has not only walked into, but has created. Guido's past revisits him in his dreams, his own Catholic guilt at having danced with a prostitute as a boy--quite innocently--perhaps serving as a justification for his difficulty in matters of the heart. He envisions a "perfect woman" offering him holy water at a spring of refreshment; this woman shows up later as the actress he wants, Claudia (Claudia Cardinale). He is spiraling down into his fantasy, and she tells him his problem is that he has forgotten how to love. It is often observed that 8 1/2 is a self-reflexive film on the part of Federico Fellini, whose own life and experiences had influenced this dramatization of filmmaking and that the characters are avatars of himself and those he knew. Be that as it may, 8 1/2 remains an imaginative exploration of the mental process of creation, of the act of transforming thought into image, even if it stands defiant against categorization. It is no more scattered than Guido, and is--contrary to the doubting critic which plagues Guido at every turn--a fascinating exploration into the mind of a filmmaker, fictional or otherwise.
Recommended for: Fans of a film about one who allows himself to undertake a herculean task of making a movie, and doesn't...and yet does in the sense that we're watching it. It's a deft blending of fantasy and reality, and a kind of paradoxical introspection laid bare, a smart and clever story that is very "meta".
Part of the torment Guido experiences comes from that anxiety which grabs anyone who feels tasked to create. Speaking for myself, I know that it is the most intimidating thing in the world to stare at a blank page, more so when you know that what you produce comes with certain expectations from others. Guido has it worse, because he seems determined to sabotage his efforts, hiring a writer who considers the subject of a science fiction story beneath him, and never ceases to serve as the proverbial "negative Nancy", a manifestation of Guido's own doubt and anxiety and justification for his desire to just give up. Guido preoccupies himself by sneaking away from any moment where he might be called upon to deliver a definitive decision about his work-in-progress, but tours the movie in the works, one now out of his control completely. Superficially, 8 1/2 resembles a kind of walk through the chaos and excess that accompanies a big-budget picture, one where the production offices even host a cozy nook where sisters in lingerie entertain one of the higher-ups, and massive structures are built at great expense, simply because a backdrop would look "less realistic"...even though a backdrop will be superimposed over it to make it "look" like the spaceship it is meant to look. Guido makes his way through his self-imposed anarchy, humming the "Barber of Seville Overture", as if some part of him thrives in the chaos. His marriage disintegrates before our eyes, his infidelity is mirrored in the screen tests displayed on the large screen for all--including his wife--to witness in a self-abasing and humiliating experience he has not only walked into, but has created. Guido's past revisits him in his dreams, his own Catholic guilt at having danced with a prostitute as a boy--quite innocently--perhaps serving as a justification for his difficulty in matters of the heart. He envisions a "perfect woman" offering him holy water at a spring of refreshment; this woman shows up later as the actress he wants, Claudia (Claudia Cardinale). He is spiraling down into his fantasy, and she tells him his problem is that he has forgotten how to love. It is often observed that 8 1/2 is a self-reflexive film on the part of Federico Fellini, whose own life and experiences had influenced this dramatization of filmmaking and that the characters are avatars of himself and those he knew. Be that as it may, 8 1/2 remains an imaginative exploration of the mental process of creation, of the act of transforming thought into image, even if it stands defiant against categorization. It is no more scattered than Guido, and is--contrary to the doubting critic which plagues Guido at every turn--a fascinating exploration into the mind of a filmmaker, fictional or otherwise.
Recommended for: Fans of a film about one who allows himself to undertake a herculean task of making a movie, and doesn't...and yet does in the sense that we're watching it. It's a deft blending of fantasy and reality, and a kind of paradoxical introspection laid bare, a smart and clever story that is very "meta".