Criterion's FELLINI box
14 films, lovingly restored
Criterion put together this gorgeous box set in 2020, in honor of Fellini's 100th birthday.
I hear you, you've seen 'em all. Or most of 'em ...
Maybe you saw La Strada years ago in a semi-mutilated print with emulsion scratches, projector noise, and gate jitter.
Here's your chance to rewatch these restored masterpieces (mostly).
**
My ratings in the 80's indicate a very good film, worth watching. The 90's are must-watch films, worthy of repeat viewings ...
Here's your chance to rewatch these restored masterpieces (mostly).
**
My ratings in the 80's indicate a very good film, worth watching. The 90's are must-watch films, worthy of repeat viewings ...
1. Variety Lights (1950)
Co-directed with Alberto Lattuada, this tale of the variety acts -- hired by theater owners anxious to draw in customers, which preceded the advertised film to be shown -- was a short-lived phenomena in the war and postwar years of the 40's and early 50's.
The director of this zany troupe of entertainers is Checco (Peppino De Filippo) and his eternal fiancée, Melina (Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife). A curvaceous newcomer -- Liliana (Carla Del Poggio, Lattuada's wife) talks her way into the act, and of course Checco falls hard for her.
The vaudeville is dated, but extremely entertaining.
The director of this zany troupe of entertainers is Checco (Peppino De Filippo) and his eternal fiancée, Melina (Giulietta Masina, Fellini's wife). A curvaceous newcomer -- Liliana (Carla Del Poggio, Lattuada's wife) talks her way into the act, and of course Checco falls hard for her.
The vaudeville is dated, but extremely entertaining.
89
2. The White Sheik (1952)
Fellini's solo directing debut came about because Rossellini didn't want to direct Fellini's script. Anxious to get paid, FF pleaded with the producer, until the money men asked him to direct it himself. The nervous young (31) Federico didn't dare refuse.
"Rome!" the straight-laced provincial Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) exclaims as the train enters the station. His mousy wife, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) trails behind him.
The plot hinges on the duality of the couple -- Ivan has big-shot relatives who plan to take the newlyweds to meet the Pope the next day.
Wanda has other plans. Consumed by the fotoromanzi (which was a staple divertissement of the middle and lower classes) she hid from her husband, she leaves the hotel in search of "The White Sheik" -- Fernando (Alberto Sordi) -- and ends up being cast as a harem girl in the production. [The confounded director (Ernesto Almirante) is a stand-in for future Fellini).
Masina has a cameo as the prostitute, Cabiria. It would be five more years before Fellini fleshed out the character in an early masterpiece.
"Rome!" the straight-laced provincial Ivan (Leopoldo Trieste) exclaims as the train enters the station. His mousy wife, Wanda (Brunella Bovo) trails behind him.
The plot hinges on the duality of the couple -- Ivan has big-shot relatives who plan to take the newlyweds to meet the Pope the next day.
Wanda has other plans. Consumed by the fotoromanzi (which was a staple divertissement of the middle and lower classes) she hid from her husband, she leaves the hotel in search of "The White Sheik" -- Fernando (Alberto Sordi) -- and ends up being cast as a harem girl in the production. [The confounded director (Ernesto Almirante) is a stand-in for future Fellini).
Masina has a cameo as the prostitute, Cabiria. It would be five more years before Fellini fleshed out the character in an early masterpiece.
89
3. I Vitelloni (1953)
vitellóne, noun:
Year-old calf, held to fatten in the stable,meat of the slaughtered animal; fig. idle young person of the provinces, often an eternal student
Year-old calf, held to fatten in the stable,meat of the slaughtered animal; fig. idle young person of the provinces, often an eternal student
IRL, Fellini's youthful gang was just a trio -- but he expanded it to a quintet for this first of his many "I remember" films.
Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi -- the Fellini stand-in, as he is the first to leave the town for Rome), Alberto (Sordi), Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), Leopoldo (Trieste), and Riccardo (Fellini's brother) make up these five unforgettable goofballs. Fellini's genius is apparent in his careful delineation of each of them, with unique cinematic tricks that the viewer catches through dialogue and visuals.
As the old neorealism gave way to a more fanciful style, Fellini seemed to have touched the right nerve with the public, who rewarded the director with his first mildly successful film. It it had flopped, we might never have known the name of the great Federico Fellini.
Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi -- the Fellini stand-in, as he is the first to leave the town for Rome), Alberto (Sordi), Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), Leopoldo (Trieste), and Riccardo (Fellini's brother) make up these five unforgettable goofballs. Fellini's genius is apparent in his careful delineation of each of them, with unique cinematic tricks that the viewer catches through dialogue and visuals.
As the old neorealism gave way to a more fanciful style, Fellini seemed to have touched the right nerve with the public, who rewarded the director with his first mildly successful film. It it had flopped, we might never have known the name of the great Federico Fellini.
88
4. La Strada (1954)
Casting his wife as Gelsomina was no mere act of nepotism -- she is a star, and as one who grew up in the silent era, absorbed all of Chaplin's tramp mannerisms, and transforms them into the sad clown incarnate here.
You probably know that until very recently, all Italian films were dubbed in post, regardless of the actor's nationality. Fellini -- perhaps more so than any other Italian director -- learned to use the Cinecittà studios as tool to recreate reality.
Anthony Quinn (Zampanò) and Richard Basehart (The Fool) deliver inspired performances.
Despite a deep dive into the issue, I have yet to find any other comments on the great Nina Rota's gentle rip-off of a famous classical work. See for yourselves:
La Strada theme
Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, 4th mvmnt.
You probably know that until very recently, all Italian films were dubbed in post, regardless of the actor's nationality. Fellini -- perhaps more so than any other Italian director -- learned to use the Cinecittà studios as tool to recreate reality.
Anthony Quinn (Zampanò) and Richard Basehart (The Fool) deliver inspired performances.
Despite a deep dive into the issue, I have yet to find any other comments on the great Nina Rota's gentle rip-off of a famous classical work. See for yourselves:
La Strada theme
Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, 4th mvmnt.
90
5. Il Bidone (1955)
A flop in '55, thankfully reappraised these days as a very fine film.
A bidone is a trash can; thus, a swindler, a dirty con man.
Augusto (Broderick Crawford), Picasso (Basehart) and Roberto (Fabrizi) pull off a scam on a naive country woman. The ruination of her life is completely left off-screen. Fellini makes no comment, as the bandits return to Rome to party.
Masina plays Iris, Picasso's wife, trying desperately to get her hubby to consider changing occupations.
In the final scene Augusto's fate mirrors Zampanò's in La Strada. Will the wretched find salvation, even as they take their final breaths, after living a life of evil?
Fellini isn't saying, so the viewer is forced to confront the very Catholic ideal with his or her own conscience.
Augusto (Broderick Crawford), Picasso (Basehart) and Roberto (Fabrizi) pull off a scam on a naive country woman. The ruination of her life is completely left off-screen. Fellini makes no comment, as the bandits return to Rome to party.
Masina plays Iris, Picasso's wife, trying desperately to get her hubby to consider changing occupations.
In the final scene Augusto's fate mirrors Zampanò's in La Strada. Will the wretched find salvation, even as they take their final breaths, after living a life of evil?
Fellini isn't saying, so the viewer is forced to confront the very Catholic ideal with his or her own conscience.
89
6. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
One can imagine the philandering Fellini saying to his wife, "I'm truly sorry, my dear, but look what I did with Cabiria -- I made you an international star.:
And indeed, the Cabiria character is one of Fellini's greatest creations. From the opening scene, the viewer immediately realizes that this woman is terribly naive. Her best friend Wanda (Franca Marzi) knows it. The famous actor, Alberto Lazzari (Amedeo Nazzari) knows it, but doesn't have time to take advantage of it because his girlfriend, Jessy (Dorian Gray) butts in -- even the hypnotist (Aldo Silvani) in the vaudeville show must have sensed it, using his skills to bring out her laughable innocence in front of a crowd of rowdy, horny Italian men.
Worst of all, Oscar (François Périer) knows it.
Worst of all, Oscar (François Périer) knows it.
94
7. La Dolce Vita (1960)
The adjective Felliniesque enters the world's vocabulary, as well as the eponym for a character named Paparazzo (Walter Santesso).
Marcello (Mastrioianni -- in the first of two consecutive roles as Fellini's doppelgänger) -- is the spectator; a disenchanted tabloid reporter who is too distracted to seek a better office.
Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) is a goddess -- a major distraction from Marcello's fiancée, Emma (Yvonne Furneaux). Then there's Maddalena (Anouk Aimée), who whispers her love through magical conduits in the castle. (Note how beautifully Fellini uses the widescreen format to pin Marcello sitting on a chair in the middle of the huge frame!)
Marcello (Mastrioianni -- in the first of two consecutive roles as Fellini's doppelgänger) -- is the spectator; a disenchanted tabloid reporter who is too distracted to seek a better office.
Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) is a goddess -- a major distraction from Marcello's fiancée, Emma (Yvonne Furneaux). Then there's Maddalena (Anouk Aimée), who whispers her love through magical conduits in the castle. (Note how beautifully Fellini uses the widescreen format to pin Marcello sitting on a chair in the middle of the huge frame!)
There are also a few men around to confound poor lost Marcello. Consider Steiner (a brilliant Alain Cuny), a disturbed intellectual who is the only one around capable of speaking truths to Marcello. Fellini's shocking handling of the character's trajectory is unsettling.
One character worth keeping your eyes on -- although she has only three minutes of screen time) is young Paola (Valeria Ciangottini).
One character worth keeping your eyes on -- although she has only three minutes of screen time) is young Paola (Valeria Ciangottini).
This magnificent film might seem like eye-candy at first -- but the discerning viewer will see the wider essence of satire and ironic detachment, which is easy to miss amongst the studio recreation of the Via Veneto and the chicken feathers. Fellini is not recreating all these scenes of revelry and debauchery to elicit your approval.
95
8. 8½ (1963)
There is nothing in the film universe as unique, unqualifyingly honest and truly spectacular as 8½.
There are various ways of counting the ½: could it be the collaboration on Variety Lights; the segment in Love in the City (1953); or Boccaccio '70 (1962)?
The film director Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni) is stuck in a traffic jam; he escapes and flies away in a Christ-like post until he is in the clouds. Claudia (Cardinale)'s agents pull him down with a rope attached to Guido's ankle. He falls into the ocean and then awakes from his dream in a room at the spa, where he is undergoing a health treatment.
The film is populated with fantastic characters: the rotund, devilish Saraghina (Eddra Gale); a mistress (a luminous Sandra Milo), a wife, Luisa (Aimée, an obvious stand-in for Masina).
There is Guido's intellectual collaborator, Daumier (Jean Rougeul), who never has anything positive to say, and warns Guido that his Catholic guilt and attitude is not clearly expressed as Suetonius did for the Caesars. A nice, obscure reference.
After some brief appearances, the virginal Cardinale peels Guido away from an important screen test, and drives off for a truth session.
The finale -- where Guido cowers beneath his gigantic spaceship set, trying to avoid the inane questions from the press -- reminds me of Bresson's grilling at Cannes, where his final film (L'argent [1983]) was being shown. He simply refused to answer even one of the ridiculous queries of the reporters.
As the decision to cancel the "film" is made, Maurice (Ian Dallas) leads the entire cast in a cheerful round.
Suddenly, Guido regains his confidence. He picks up the bullhorn and begins shouting orders to everyone. He is finally ready to make his film.
There are various ways of counting the ½: could it be the collaboration on Variety Lights; the segment in Love in the City (1953); or Boccaccio '70 (1962)?
The film director Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni) is stuck in a traffic jam; he escapes and flies away in a Christ-like post until he is in the clouds. Claudia (Cardinale)'s agents pull him down with a rope attached to Guido's ankle. He falls into the ocean and then awakes from his dream in a room at the spa, where he is undergoing a health treatment.
The film is populated with fantastic characters: the rotund, devilish Saraghina (Eddra Gale); a mistress (a luminous Sandra Milo), a wife, Luisa (Aimée, an obvious stand-in for Masina).
There is Guido's intellectual collaborator, Daumier (Jean Rougeul), who never has anything positive to say, and warns Guido that his Catholic guilt and attitude is not clearly expressed as Suetonius did for the Caesars. A nice, obscure reference.
After some brief appearances, the virginal Cardinale peels Guido away from an important screen test, and drives off for a truth session.
The finale -- where Guido cowers beneath his gigantic spaceship set, trying to avoid the inane questions from the press -- reminds me of Bresson's grilling at Cannes, where his final film (L'argent [1983]) was being shown. He simply refused to answer even one of the ridiculous queries of the reporters.
As the decision to cancel the "film" is made, Maurice (Ian Dallas) leads the entire cast in a cheerful round.
Suddenly, Guido regains his confidence. He picks up the bullhorn and begins shouting orders to everyone. He is finally ready to make his film.
96
9. Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Turning the tables, Fellini makes 8½ from Masina's viewpoint.
The film -- his first in color -- Juliet is a coded palette of mostly red and white (heaven and hell?) -- just study the scene with the the androgenous Bishma (Valeska Gert, last seen in 1931's The Threepenny Opera as Frau Peachum!) ...
But the film fails on so many other levels; what are we to make of this weary cuckolded woman who is first curious, then enchanted by her mysterious neighbor, Suzy (a wonderfully kooky Milo) ... and finally terrified when she actually enters her realm?
Giorgio (Mario Pisu) is a handsome stand-in for the unfaithful Fellini -- idealized as a loving, if distant, husband until Juliet discovers the truth.
Many female characters [Valentina (Valentina Cortese) and her mother (Caterina Boratto) seem posed like the dainty ladies of La Belle Époque.
One of the more entertaining characters -- arising out of Juliet's childhood memories -- is her philandering grandfather (Lou Gilbert), who runs off with a young dancer in a rickety aeroplane.
The film -- his first in color -- Juliet is a coded palette of mostly red and white (heaven and hell?) -- just study the scene with the the androgenous Bishma (Valeska Gert, last seen in 1931's The Threepenny Opera as Frau Peachum!) ...
But the film fails on so many other levels; what are we to make of this weary cuckolded woman who is first curious, then enchanted by her mysterious neighbor, Suzy (a wonderfully kooky Milo) ... and finally terrified when she actually enters her realm?
Giorgio (Mario Pisu) is a handsome stand-in for the unfaithful Fellini -- idealized as a loving, if distant, husband until Juliet discovers the truth.
Many female characters [Valentina (Valentina Cortese) and her mother (Caterina Boratto) seem posed like the dainty ladies of La Belle Époque.
One of the more entertaining characters -- arising out of Juliet's childhood memories -- is her philandering grandfather (Lou Gilbert), who runs off with a young dancer in a rickety aeroplane.
86
10. Fellini Satyricon (1969)
The film posits an entire relatively unknown universe -- full of faces, costumes, masks -- and perhaps most importantly -- behavior that seems totally alien to our modern society.
And it all works. Episodic in nature, Fellini lifted some Petronius intact -- Trimalchio (Mario Romagnoli)'s feast, the widow (Lucia Bosè) and the soldier (Joseph Wheeler), etc. Other scenes emerge purely from Fellini's outrageous imagination.
The leads, Encolpius (spider) (Martin Potter); Ascyltus (spider) (Hiram Keller) and Giton (Max Born) are all splendid.
Check out the Buddy Hackett look-alike with the hand-clappers at 0:26:42!
And it all works. Episodic in nature, Fellini lifted some Petronius intact -- Trimalchio (Mario Romagnoli)'s feast, the widow (Lucia Bosè) and the soldier (Joseph Wheeler), etc. Other scenes emerge purely from Fellini's outrageous imagination.
The leads, Encolpius (spider) (Martin Potter); Ascyltus (spider) (Hiram Keller) and Giton (Max Born) are all splendid.
Check out the Buddy Hackett look-alike with the hand-clappers at 0:26:42!
93
11. Roma (1972)
Considered by some as "minor Fellini," this film demands multiple viewings. Fellini has purposely made a non-narrative film with one outlandish image after another, that resists comprehension on first look.
If the dead cows don't get you, the bishop in the blinking neon suit will!
Peter Gonzales is brilliant as the horny 18-year-old Fellini, as is Dolores (Fiona Florence), the come-hither prostitute who Fellini wants to date.
Gore Vidal -- an ex-pat living in Rome -- makes a cameo, seemingly completely self-deprecating, in keeping with all the surrounding satire ...
Perhaps the most touching moment occurs when Fellini follows the great Anna Magnani to her doorway. "Go to bed, Fredri!" she exclaims, seeming truly annoyed.
A long section at a variety show (Fellini cleverly slips in the detail of the exact date, July 19, 1943) recalls Variety Lights, but is infused with pathos and a penetrating stare at the Roman attitude!
If the dead cows don't get you, the bishop in the blinking neon suit will!
Peter Gonzales is brilliant as the horny 18-year-old Fellini, as is Dolores (Fiona Florence), the come-hither prostitute who Fellini wants to date.
Gore Vidal -- an ex-pat living in Rome -- makes a cameo, seemingly completely self-deprecating, in keeping with all the surrounding satire ...
Perhaps the most touching moment occurs when Fellini follows the great Anna Magnani to her doorway. "Go to bed, Fredri!" she exclaims, seeming truly annoyed.
A long section at a variety show (Fellini cleverly slips in the detail of the exact date, July 19, 1943) recalls Variety Lights, but is infused with pathos and a penetrating stare at the Roman attitude!
92
12. Amarcord (1973)
The title is a univerbation of the Romagnol phrase a m'arcôra ("I remember") -- further meaning "nostalgic revocation" in Italian.
Fellini ("I'm a born liar") remembers his childhood in a small town near Rimini as a fictional autobiography.
Titta (Bruno Zanin) might be Fellini; Aurelio (a scene-chewing Armando Brancia) and Miranda (Pupella Maggio) might be his parents. All the unforgettable characters in this film might be memories of a filmmaker far removed from his childhood reality. So we might think of this is "invented memories."
Some great characters: Gradisca (Magali Noël) -- a liberated woman; object of the boys' attention; Uncle Teo (Ciccio Ingrassia) -- furloughed from an insane asylum, is he really crazy for climbing a tree and shouting that he "wants a woman"?; Patacca (Nando Orfei) -- another uncle, effeminate, committed Fascist; the "lawyer" (Luigi Rossi) who narrates the proceedings; and most memorable, the tobacconist (Maria Antonietta Beluzzi), to whom Titta boldly makes an unsuccessful advance:
In its two-hour running time, Amarcord advances through the seasons -- bookended with the coming of spring and the arrival of the "puffballls" (poplar seeds).
If there is a must-see in Fellini's oeuvre, this is it.
Fellini ("I'm a born liar") remembers his childhood in a small town near Rimini as a fictional autobiography.
Titta (Bruno Zanin) might be Fellini; Aurelio (a scene-chewing Armando Brancia) and Miranda (Pupella Maggio) might be his parents. All the unforgettable characters in this film might be memories of a filmmaker far removed from his childhood reality. So we might think of this is "invented memories."
Some great characters: Gradisca (Magali Noël) -- a liberated woman; object of the boys' attention; Uncle Teo (Ciccio Ingrassia) -- furloughed from an insane asylum, is he really crazy for climbing a tree and shouting that he "wants a woman"?; Patacca (Nando Orfei) -- another uncle, effeminate, committed Fascist; the "lawyer" (Luigi Rossi) who narrates the proceedings; and most memorable, the tobacconist (Maria Antonietta Beluzzi), to whom Titta boldly makes an unsuccessful advance:
In its two-hour running time, Amarcord advances through the seasons -- bookended with the coming of spring and the arrival of the "puffballls" (poplar seeds).
If there is a must-see in Fellini's oeuvre, this is it.
96
13. And the Ship Sails On (1983)
Set in July 1914 (weeks earlier a Bosnian Serb assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, which was the firecracker that set off World War I).
The wealthy passengers have chartered the Gloria N. to travel to the island where the late great diva, Edmea Tetua (Janet Suzman, seen only in silent B&W film clips) was born, and scatter her ashes in the sea.
Most of the entourage consists of other divas, tenors, and conductors -- with the exception of the young Grand Duke (Fiorenzo Serra) -- presumably a fan of Tetua's -- and his blind sister, The Princess (played by the great dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch).
The film begins in silence and B&W, and gradually gains sound and then color -- a wonderful touch.
Orlando (Freddie Jones) -- a journalist -- is our tour guide, narrating the tale and introducing us to the characters, always looking directly into the camera.
The plot thickens when the captain rescues a group of Serbian refugees. Their dance scene and another where the opera singers delight the scruffy men working the boiler room with some operatic gymnastics are cinematic marvels.
Oh yes -- one more important character -- a lovesick rhinoceros.
The wealthy passengers have chartered the Gloria N. to travel to the island where the late great diva, Edmea Tetua (Janet Suzman, seen only in silent B&W film clips) was born, and scatter her ashes in the sea.
Most of the entourage consists of other divas, tenors, and conductors -- with the exception of the young Grand Duke (Fiorenzo Serra) -- presumably a fan of Tetua's -- and his blind sister, The Princess (played by the great dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch).
The film begins in silence and B&W, and gradually gains sound and then color -- a wonderful touch.
Orlando (Freddie Jones) -- a journalist -- is our tour guide, narrating the tale and introducing us to the characters, always looking directly into the camera.
The plot thickens when the captain rescues a group of Serbian refugees. Their dance scene and another where the opera singers delight the scruffy men working the boiler room with some operatic gymnastics are cinematic marvels.
Oh yes -- one more important character -- a lovesick rhinoceros.
90
14. Intervista (1987)
Four films in one:
- A Japanese television crew films the proceedings;
- An autobiographical section set in 1940 where the young Fellini (Sergio Rubini) (put a pimple on that nose!) sets out to interview the famous actress Greta Gonda (the gorgeous Antonella Ponziani), and is so nervous he can barely utter a sound;
- The making of a fictional film, an adaptation of Kafka's Amerika;
- Intervista itself.
Fellini's up to his old tricks, hanging a bunch of semi-interesting episodic spectacles onto the clothesline of cinema.
The 56-year-old Fellini appears in the film frequently, shouting out fictional orders.
The film is saved by the appearances of Mastroianni and Ekberg.
Mastroianni first appears in an obviously choreographed scene as Mandrake the Magnificent, bursting through the window of the production office (accompanied by balloons and confetti), asking Fellini if he's in his usual trouble with finances or sexual escapades. His magic wand will cause an erection.
Probably staged -- Anita initially refuses Fellini entrance to her gated estate, guarded by snarling dogs, but eventually invites the entire entourage in to feast on roasted chestnuts, wine and Schnapps.
Mandrake magically produces a sheet which serves as a screen as we watch the scene from La Dolce Vita where they dance, and Ekberg sloshes her way through the Trevi fountain. Ekberg's tears of remembrance seem real, as the Japanese reporter tries to do yoga magic on Mastroianni to get him to quit smoking.
The ending is too good to give away. It concerns Indians with TV antennas instead of rifles or bows, and a final nod to his nagging producers who wanted him to at least put in a "ray of sunshine."
The 56-year-old Fellini appears in the film frequently, shouting out fictional orders.
The film is saved by the appearances of Mastroianni and Ekberg.
Mastroianni first appears in an obviously choreographed scene as Mandrake the Magnificent, bursting through the window of the production office (accompanied by balloons and confetti), asking Fellini if he's in his usual trouble with finances or sexual escapades. His magic wand will cause an erection.
Probably staged -- Anita initially refuses Fellini entrance to her gated estate, guarded by snarling dogs, but eventually invites the entire entourage in to feast on roasted chestnuts, wine and Schnapps.
Mandrake magically produces a sheet which serves as a screen as we watch the scene from La Dolce Vita where they dance, and Ekberg sloshes her way through the Trevi fountain. Ekberg's tears of remembrance seem real, as the Japanese reporter tries to do yoga magic on Mastroianni to get him to quit smoking.
The ending is too good to give away. It concerns Indians with TV antennas instead of rifles or bows, and a final nod to his nagging producers who wanted him to at least put in a "ray of sunshine."
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