fellini-1-sm.jpgFederico Fellini famously named a film 8½, based on the fact that he’d directed seven and a half before that. So, as many a Fellini fan before me, I counted them: six feature-length films on his own (The White Sheik, I Vitelloni, La Strada, Il Bidone, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita), one (Variety Lights) as co-director–he counted that as a half–and two anthology contributions (to L’ Amore in città and Boccaccio ‘70) that he counted as a half apiece as well. Because there were seven segments in L’ Amore and four in Boccaccio, I would have counted them as a seventh and fourth respectively, but I suppose Seven and Eleven Twenty-eighth wouldn’t have had the same ring.

Anyway, between ½ (Variety Lights) and 8½, the Maestro’s style evolved from his neo-realist beginnings to what’s been called “Felliniesque,” the highly personal, surreal style where it is often difficult to separate dream from reality. Although he early-on received criticism from his colleagues for “abandoning his roots” — for not criticizing the church or tackling class issues in, for instance, La Strada – the style of most of his films of the 50s is firmly planted in the neo-realist world. It really wasn’t until La Dolce Vita that his new style was firmly in evidence.

So here’s the deal:

I’m going to watch–or re-watch–all of the features and segments he directed or co-directed beginning with Variety Lights and ending with 8½ and then write about each, maybe tracing the development of the “Felliniesque,” and whatever else strikes my fancy.

I would love it if there were some cross-watching and cross-posting on other blogs, if anyone’s reading this thing, anyway. If you write something, send me the link, and I’ll post it here. Alternatively, if you don’t have a blog, send me what you write and I’ll put it up, with all due attribution and credit, of course. In any case, please comment if you feel like it — it would be good to discuss the Maestro.

As I said, I’m starting with Variety Lights. What in that film — if anything — points to Fellini’s future style? Which of his several obsessions are evident, even in a film co-directed by another? How does the role of Giulietta Masina foreshadow her other, future collaborations with her husband?

Tomorrow, Variety Lights. Next week, The White Sheik. Next month, the world (just kidding).

(update: Link to first post: Variety Lights)

Tags: , , ,