Guido: All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be. "A picture that goes beyond what men think about- because no man ever thought about it in quite this way."8 1/2 may just be the most perfect film I have seen. Fellini gives us a based somewhat on him, director
named Guido(magnificently played by Marcello Mastroianni). This director is being hassled by everyone in his life. He deals with two relationships, one with his wife and one with his lover, and the repercussions of his sexual desires. He is hounded by produces and writers to get moving on his next film, but he doesn't know what to do. So he escapes at various times throughout the film, into his fantasies.Some of these fantasy sequences are easy to spot, some a bit harder. Some are realistic, some are not. But these fantasy scenes are simply brilliant and amazing. I for one absolutely loved where he was in a fantasy with all the women of his fantasies. He talked to them and sent them "upstairs" because they reached a specific age which he deemed to old. With today's lingo, we basically go into Guido's spankbank.I haven't seen that many Federico Fellini films, but the ones I have seen I have loved. None more so than 8 1/2. I can see this movie being very hard for some people to sit through because virtually nothing happens. We watch a man struggle in the real world and resort to fantasies of women he lost and childhood memories of guilt. This isn't meant as pure entertainment. It isn't going to have you waiting with bated breath for what happens next and it probably isn't going to excite in the least. But for the viewer who loves these type of films(films that dive more into a character's thoughts, guilt and struggles, then into a plot), I couldn't think of a better movie. What this movie really makes me want to do is watch every Fellini film right now just to make sure this is his best, because if it isn't there's a movie out there that is basically going to change my life. I have to talk about Marcello Mastroianni's performance. This was easily the most insightful and vivid performance I have ever seen from an actor. I'm not going to say it is the best performance by an actor ever(it is definitely up there) because I don't know how'd that would even be judged, but it is one of my personal favorites.The best thing about this is that the next time I watch it, I probably appreciate it even more because it will be a lot easier to follow and I will pick up on a lot more. Guido: My Dears... Happiness consists of being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone.
October 28, 2011
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