140 - 8½

[captainofbeef]

Disc One
- New digital transfer of restored film elements, enhanced for 16x9 televisions, with digital image restoration
- Screen-specific audio essay featuring commentary by film critic and Fellini friend Gideon Bachmann and NYU Professor of Film Antonio Monda
- Introduction by Terry Gilliam, director of Brazil and 12 Monkeys
- 22 page booklet featuring essays by Fellini, longtime Fellini collaborator and critic Tullio Kezich, and film professor and author Alexander Sesonske
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitles
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Disc Two
- Fellini: A Director’s Notebook, a 52-minute film by Federico Fellini
- Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert, a compelling 48-minute documentary about the maestro behind the music of Fellini's films
- Interviews with actress Sandra Milo, director Lina Wertmüller, whose career began on the set of 8 1/2, and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who discusses the revolutionary art of Gianni di Venanzo
- Rare photographs from the collection of Gideon Bachmann
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes and production photos
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

[captainofbeef]

In my top 20. For my thoughts, go into the in depth reviews section.

[criterionmaster]

Never have a seen a film like this, at one moment funny and another surreal all blending perfectly weaving what seem like unreleated scenes in and making them work. Fellini is a true master of cinema. Scenes in this film left a mark on me that I will never forget. You may be left after scenes like "Why?" or "wtf?" but all scenes are done in such a perfect way that must be seen to believed. This is the perfect film about film as the back of the dvd says. But it is more than that, it is just a plain perfect film. One of the best of all time at that. Highly recommend and I would say this is in the top 20 films you HAVE to see before you die. Yes its just that good. Guido is one of my favorite film characters ever. GO SEE THIS!

[agentknight]

LOVE the sunglasses.

[captainofbeef]

In my flurry of movie watching, I have located another masterpiece. The name of this one is 8 1/2. Fellini's masterwork is , as it was first titled, a Beautiful Confusion. You never really know if you are watching a dream or if your are watching a real part of the man's life. But that is why I like it so much.

Marcello Mastroianni plays the title character Guido Anselmi. Guido is a director with an extreme case of writers block. He is in the middle of making his new film, but he can't figure out where he wants it to go. He is being criticized severely and he is getting pressured by all involved on the movie to give out details. He tells them he will tell them eventually, but he really doesnt know what he wants to say. To deepen his problems even further, he is torn between three girls. His wife, his lover, and his perfect girl. The film is so amazing. The way it transfers between reality and dreamscapes is fantastic. The end is rather confusing. It takes awhile to understand it. I love it because you can make your own opinion about it. I just recently watched this film, and I dont completly understand it yet. But, I know that it is a masterpiece and it was absoultely a joy to watch. Highly recommended.
100/100

[ie]

I did not hate 8½. I did not hate this movie.

I just didn't care for it at all, but I mean, how could I argue with so many people? Why does it always happen that I can't enjoy universally regarded movies? Oh well...


It wasn't that I was baffled by it or anything.

I guess my main argument is that I could not sympathize with Guido - it just seemed to me like karma was just catching up to him. He was living the high life for a while and then all of a sudden, things just fall apart. And yet, I am actually dealing with an extreme case of writer's block myself. So, I could probably relate to his writer's block more than, I don't know, more than some people. I can also understand how hard it is to both fufill the basic need of expressing one's self while also putting out a "product" that can either be the conventional packaged good or even just "this is a product of what I've done so far."

I'm sure that my main argument would be easy to pick at, and I'll probably have to defend myself against heavy criticism or whatever, but in summary, 8½ just didn't impress me as much as I thought it would, for the status it has received.

[kiddo]

I remember not totally getting the grasp of the whole thing the first time I watched it. Now I don't know if this is the thing with you, but I would nevertheless suggest to take a rewatch some time. I've seen it three times now, and I absolutely love it. For me, it's a film which manage to function on so many levels, a nearly perfect blend of beautiful visuals and absorbing themes. It's filmmaking at it's greatest, in some way. It's so easy to see that Fellini has put much of himself into the film. It's irrelevant if Fellini is so or so much like the main character or not, what's important is that the main dude feels so alive, so complex - and, as a result he becomes a figure that so many people around the world can feel somewhat attached to - and/or pick up some aspects of his personality and compare them with ones own.

I guess this whole text is quite a mess, but what I'm trying to say is that 8 1/2 is a film so full of contradictory elements in it's content, mixed into a dreamlike visual expression that smells highly of meaningful artistry, that, if you can connect with it, is totally decisive in your impression of the film. It's kind of a chaos, the whole film, but it feels so right. Right?

[ie]

Well, I was reading up at IMDB (like I do when I'm unsure of my opinion of a movie, since they tend to have polarizing I LOVE THIS MOVIE and I HATE THIS MOVIE both in a surreal blend), and someone posted a really good bit.

Basically, I might enjoy this movie later in life. It's not a matter of maturity, but it could be because I'm not that familiar with Fellini's sector of movie history, or maybe I just need several years to let it sink in.

But based off of my recent viewing, it did nothing for me. For being such a creative movie, it did not stimulate my imagination at all. So, I don't like it now -- I gave it a 5/10 shortly after I watched it, forgot about that number, rediscovered it, and figured it's reasonable considering my thougts -- but who knows? I could love it in the future.

[captainofbeef]

I really think you need to rewatch it. I have come across MANY people who actually disliked the film upon first watch and then upon a rewatch or five, it became one of there favorite movies. I just don't think that it is a movie that you can watch just once and totally get it.

[criterionmaster]

I completely agree with beed, although I loved the film to death the first time, on second viewing is where I really saw how it sat in terms of its place in cinema. It is one of the most perfect, beautiful, creative, *insert many more positive words* films I have ever seen. Really, one more watch may be hard for you to do, but you must push yourself, and if you seriously don't like it after the second time then that sucks, but at least you will know. Doesn’t have to be soon, but at least sometime this year would be nice.

[ie]

Alright then. I'll give 8½ a rewatch, but it will be very low in my queue because quite frankly, I don't have much time to rewatch movies, especially ones that just did nothing for me the first time around.

[agentknight]

Unfortunately I actually killed it with repeat viewings, but I'm really, really begging you to rewatch the film again. It is a surreal mismatch of ideas, and while ultimately they don't gel quite as well as they could have (unlike La Dolce Vita which I think moved from episode to episode with absolute ease - perhaps this was because the episodes were less surreal?) but ultimately this makes it a lot more interesting, a lot more SPONTANEOUS. There really is so much to love about 8 1/2, so many little things that you pick of on each viewing, and so many scenes that lodge themselves into your mind ("Asa Nisi Masa!"). It is amazing, and even though I don't like it as much as I used to, it is an incredibly important, if not essential part of cinema. Go watch it again, trust me.

[ie]

Well, I've given a little bit more thought to this matter.


I will still rewatch 8½, but I've decided not to watch it in the near future. An estimated time would be mid-2007 at the earliest.

I feel that after I watch more movies, especially of the era and culture, I could have more of an inclination to enjoy it. But my current rating of 5/10 - because it did not stimulate me and I disliked Guido - still stands, because that was what I got from the movie and though I could change my opinion later, I just would not stand to give this movie a high rating solely on the basis that, some day, in a galaxy nearby, there exists the possibility that I could enjoy this movie slightly more.

[agentknight]

If you're not going to re-watch the film, watch La Dolce Vita, another of Fellini's movies (which may even be a better film). It is more accessible, and more, ah, "black and white," in a moral sense anyway. I think it might alter your opinion of the movie somewhat.

[ie]

...

ie said:

I will still rewatch 8½

I'll probably end up watching more Fellini before returning to 8½.

[ie]

wkw said:

Sparknotes provides a great analysis of 8 1/2

www.sparknotes.com/film/8.5/

Those crazy kids over at SparkNotes. Never thought I'd see them go into movies, or at least, I only thought of SparkNotes in terms of novels alone.

I'll probably end up reading up on this subject, since I'm having insomnia right now.

[wkw]

I'm not a fan of Eminem, but this video works so well.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wec3GCdV7yY

[criterionmaster]

Yeah, I saw that so long ago, I couldn't believe how perfectly that matched up and looked. I love all those, have you seen any of the other videos like this? I think they did The Ten Commandments, and tons of other films.