![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
I need to catch up with this one!
(And Edna Mae Oliver to boot?
![Surprised :o](./images/smilies/icon_surprised.gif)
I thought the use of the music was fabulous in this movie and I can see why it is a favorite of directors. It's filmed very much in shadows, sometimes you can't quite make out the faces because of shadows. Surprisingly the two lead actresses, Claudia Cardinale, a dream figure for Guido, hardly appears and Anouk Aimee appears only in the second half. At first it's a confusion of all the people in Guido's life, parents, lovers, friends, work colleagues, a wife and the reality of being a director with everyone running to you for decisions on a film that's slowly unravelling in your mind. It's really excellent, even if I prefer the simplicity of La Strada I can fully appreciate the skill and cleverness that put this film together.JackFavell wrote:I am quite sure I didn't get even half the import of 8 1/2.... it was a complex film, but not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be - still very much about the human condition like La Strada - but this time Fellini explored
The Ambivalences of Modern Life:
1. simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action
2. continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite)
3. uncertainty as to which approach to follow
all perceived through his own screwed up or maybe not so screwed up psyche, which is what really makes the movie fascinating.
Me too, but it was part of the charm of the film. Anouk Aimee was so starchily dressed, she looked like a doctor with the blouse that she had on, I thought she was part of the hospital treatment, mixed up in his thoughts. Was he actually taking a cure? The place seemed incredibly lax with people toing and froing in and out, taking spring water. It definetly needs another viewing.JackFavell wrote:I had trouble in 8 1/2 figuring out what was real and what was fantasy - it needs at least a second viewing for me to be able to grasp it a little better. I would think something was a dream sequence only to discover it was real, not memory or made up entirely in his head.
I agree, though, it's a great movie, filmed beautifully - I'll have to pay more attention to the music next time.
The second half of David Copperfield lagged just a bit, but still, it's worth checking out, if only for the cast and especially Fields and Oliver.