My Journey through the films of Federico Fellini part 1

06/17/2025 4:07 am by Pixel Pusher

• Tags:
• Auteur
• Director
• Fellini
• film
• Italian

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I have heard his name here and there. I was familiar only with the title and cover, 8 1/2. I thought the lead looked like Micheal Caine to me. I kept thinking it was a British film. It wasn’t until I watched an interview with Martin Scorsese where he said 8 1/2 is his favorite film. When I hear about a director I like tell me their favorite film I take notice. I have enjoyed discovering movies this way. Scorsese said that he wanted show his daughter this movie someday. However, he said he wanted her to better understand the director’s progression before she watched 8 1/2. He wanted her to learn how the director tells a story. The movies an order he would show her are. La Strada, Nights of Cabria, La Dolce Vita then 8 1/2. So that is what I did. All these films are Black and white and of course in Italian.

First I watched La Strada, 1954. This movie stars Giulietta Masina. I really fell in love with her. She was so expressive with her face and moved like a silent movie actor. It starts off she is sold off to a traveling entertainer. The background setting of Italy really shows you the ruins that where left after World War 2. This movie has a circus in it and clowns. Fellini seemed to keep making nods to the circus and clowns in his later films. Giulietta Masina is Fellini’s wife and she really is a pleasure to watch on screen.

Nights of Cabiria, 1957, is the movie I watched next. Giulietta Masina stars in this one as well. She plays a prostitute in Rome. Also Rome is still far from recovery but some signs of clean up are around. In this film, she experiences some wild nights. She is just looking for someone to rescue her from the streets and transform her into a housewife. She continues to find heartbreak.

The next film I watched was La Dolce Vita, 1960. This is another time capsule of Rome at the time still not fully recovered but nearly there. You at this point definitely see the new construction. I have to talk about Rome because it is such on display as the movie follows around Marcello. Fellini found his actor he can project himself in his films. The handsome Marcello Mastroianni was Fellini’s Robert DeNiro. This is a love letter to Rome. Marcello is a well to do older bachelor. You follow him around from party to party all through the night. This movie bends reality and fantasy more than past efforts. You can see Fellini flirting with his storytelling more. From my history of film, this reminds me of Terry Giliam’s storytelling style. He makes reality whatever he wants and mixes in dream-like sequences. This is found in movies like Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. and pretty much all his other films.

The movie I have worked up to 8 1/2, 1963. I can see why Martin Scorsese chose this movie. It is a film about a movie director working on making a movie. It is a behind the scenes look that is also a self reflection of the director’s life. This also bends reality in the scene like you would later see in a Woody Alan movie. Also in this movie it looks like Rome has recovered from World War 2. You see more contemporary architecture mix with Rome. Marcello plays Guido the director at the peak of his career struggling to workout his next film. In one scene you have Guido’s family and the movie cast and clowns walking around him like in a circus. This feels like a very personal story from Fellini. This as well as all the previous films are shot so well.0

They have all been black and white and are so beautifully shot. The kind of framing you later see in Scorsese and Spielberg. I was also getting Kubrick vibes at times. 8 1/2 and his others films mentioned here really tell a story at times like a fly on the wall. He seemed to create a personal way of telling a story. So far I am just a few in of this Director’s work. I am looking forward to continuing to watch more of his films. I plan to move forward watching them mostly in order of release date. Here we go.