I love, love, love this film, and were I to make a list of all-time favorite films this would undoubtedly be among the top tier. I was recently asked by a friend that just saw it for the first time what it was I liked so much about it and it’s an interesting question and one I can’t answer easily. When I watch Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 it isn’t so much a digestion of the content as much as it is a film that washes over me. It creates an atmosphere through visuals, circumstances and the wonderful score provided by Nino Rota. Certainly, none of this would have worked without the very personal story of a tortured filmmaker suffering an artistic crisis as his new film is falling to pieces while the women of his life are pulling him in every direction, but Fellini’s circus atmosphere’s filled with fantasies and dreams have appealed to me ever since I first saw this film.
Making the experience even better, Criterion’s new special edition Blu-ray-only release is as masterful as you would expect it to be. They have polished this film to a shine making it appear as if it were originally released only months ago with supplemental material that will appeal to any fan of Fellini and his films.
Criterion originally released 8 1/2 in 2001 in an impressive two-disc edition that in itself was a gorgeous transfer and collection of features. All of that releases features as well as its booklet of essays, have been brought over to this new Blu-ray release and upgraded to high-definition. Even the 52-minute Fellini doc “Fellini: A Director’s Notebook” has been restored and the set now includes the 2003 featurette – exclusive to Blu-ray – “The Last Sequence” featuring audio interviews with Fellini as well as photographs and interviews regarding a lost alternate ending to the film.
While the title, “The Last Sequence,” implies most of the discussion in this 50-minute piece would surround this lost ending (which was burned/destroyed by Fellini) the feature isn’t at all exclusive to the matter. In fact, it holds some fantastic quotes from Fellini that relate very well to our current state of cinema. Here’s one of my favorites:
“I don’t want to have the feeling that the things I’m thinking, and the film I want to make, have been done before. It’s very humiliating for me – all the time, but especially with this film – to make pronouncements about my ignorance. But I’m often forced to.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if all the directors who sign on to remake films had that quote on their wall? Encouraging them to strive for something original. It makes me wonder what Fellini would have thought of Nine.
Also, for those looking for a simple explanation of what the film is “about”, Fellini offers up this version:
“8 1/2 is the story of a man who, from the dark pit of his internal blockage, manages with one good kick to completely turn around his psychological stance toward himself and others and life and find a new energy, a new attitude, a new point of view on life.”
However, there are a few quotes from Fellini I felt were a bit contradictory as he starts off by saying to look at 8 1/2 and focus on its autobiographical elements is to not be looking at the film the right way. However, later he says, “All I can say about my work is that it’s a very honest account of my life and of what I’m seeking.” I don’t know, based on that quote it sounds like the autobiographical elements are extraordinarily important, especially for those of us interested in exploring the film deeper. They may not be the “right” way of looking at the film, but the film itself encourages such curiosity, making it almost impossible to ignore the elements that so closely relate to Fellini’s life.
Another favorite carried over from the DVD edition is the 48-minute documentary “Nino Rota: Between Cinema and Concert” focusing on Fellini’s longtime composer. This doc does a fantastic job exploring Rota’s work and his relationship with Fellini.
Finally, the audio commentary is a bit hit-and-miss, but overall an informational listen for those that want to know more as it is pieced together using a trio of elements including the reading of an audio essay by actress Tanya Zaicon, and interviews with Fellini friend and documentarian Gideon Bachmann and NYU film professor Antonio Monda.
Listening to the commentary again one quote from Fellini, read by Zaicon, stood out among the rest and when combined with the first quote I mentioned above says so much about the state of films nowadays:
“I would not be able to work with an extremely neat, carefully constructed scenario. I need a screenplay that’s very flexible — not necessarily for improvisation, but in general. So that I may deepen a given character or situation. Depth and color are unfailingly added to the story during the shooting. I do not believe it is a good system to present the actors, who are there to give the film body, with a story that has unchangeable, intransitive limits, saying This is what we came up with at our desks, and this is what we must produce.”
Fellini is describing the very scenario most filmmakers creating 2009’s blockbusters were dealing with as the writers’ strike prevented them from altering their scripts in any way. Shooting what was on the page was their only alternative. I can only assume Fellini would rather set his production on fire before work under such circumstances, which is the reason so many of his films are remembered over 50 years beyond their original release and thanks to Criterion they look just as good, if not better than they did then.
This film is an absolute must own and if you already have the DVD edition on your shelf don’t hesitate to upgrade to Blu-ray, it’s worth it. Criterion has done an excellent job with the transfer, which maintains much of the original grain texture, but my assumption is they did a little bit of digital noise reduction to make sure the image didn’t look as if it was swimming with mosquitoes, a complaint many had with Criterion’s initial Third Man release (I was not among the detractors). I don’t say any of this as a complaint, but simply as a note for those that are truly looking for an untouched image. (For comparison images check DVD Beaver‘s review.)
Everything considered, this is a drop dead gorgeous release of a 47-year-old film that, thanks to the dedication of Criterion, looks as if it just hit the multiplex. Fellini’s fantasies have become necessities in my personal collection and I only hope this is just the beginning of Criterion’s attempts to bring the master filmmaker home and in high-definition.
