8 1/2

Release Year: 1963
Review: '8 1/2' is a very influential and groundbreaking film by Federico Fellini depicting a successful film director grappling with his own demons all the while trying to produce his next masterpiece. It's difficult to underestimate how powerful the storytelling in which Fellini employs is. The meandering tangle of reality and dreams are spliced together with no discrimination between the two. It is inescapable that the film is at least partly autobiographical offering a glimpse of the struggles of Fellini himself. The stream of consciousness direction in which the story is told is incredibly effective in showing the thought process of the over-stressed director, Guido. Guido, like Fellini at this point in his career, has completed 8 1/2 films to date (hence the title), and has accumulated a significant amount of artistic freedom in anticipation for his next work. Despite not actually having the plot figured out the production has begun. Weaving an ever more complicated web of lies, Guido is continually stressed by his creative block, the pressures from producers and actors, and the many women that continually stress his marital relationship. The key concept on display is Guido's relationship with women, and his shame for his desire for all women. He wants to have many women, but society, religion, and human nature all compete with this desire and the frustration that he deals with in accepting this, and understanding love is palpable. Beyond being the best 'film about film-making', '8 1/2' is a powerful and inventive narrative on the struggles of a man with life.
Rating: 5/5