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Amazon.co.uk Review
Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, his 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration, is still a mesmerising mystery tour that has been quoted (Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland) but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyper real imagery, dreamy sidebars and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh
Amazon.co.uk Review
Federico Fellini's 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration is still a mesmerising mystery tour that has been quoted (Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland) but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyper-real imagery, dreamy sidebars and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
8 ½ is often hailed as a masterpiece of cinema and in my opinion is THE best film ever made. In 1963 it was awarded an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. This mind-blowing and inspirational film is about a film director who doesn't know what to make a film about. It is partly an autobiographical film taken from his own experiences - he ran away with the circus for a week and it's easy to see this in his films - just look at La Strada! What is so encapsulating about this film is that you are never able to anticipate what will happen next. Right from the opening sequence I realised I was in for a surreal and haunting experience. It was a journey into the unknown where anything can happen. It is like being thrown into some unknown bizarre world. Some dream sequences are combined with eerie music that create atmosphere and make the whole experience of watching this film more involving.
Marcello Mastrioani (Guido) acts as Fellini who is uncaring and unsympathetic to the world that surrounds him. He does this with professional perfection, in my view better than in La Dolce Vita. Every muscle in his face works to add to his stunning performance.
It raises so many questions about artistic creativity and integrity. This leaves you able to watch it time and time again as new questions are raised in each viewing. I have seen it innumerable times and am glad I can now watch it as many times as I want. If you like cinema as art you will love this - pure cinema!
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bravo Guido! Welcome to the wacky world of 8 and a half! Fellini goes less overboard than in his stranger works (Satyricon) and yet harder to decrypt than the more famous La Dolve Vita. Guido, a loveless and forlorn, yet suave and sophisticated film maker, played with amiable genius by Marcello Mastroianni, is surrounded by adoring females, desperate for a word, a part in his movies, some acceptance or completion for their longing. He in turn is stuck with an unmakeable film, against a ravishing backdrop of 1960's health-spa Italia, his wife Luisa (Anouk Aimée) joining him half-way along to add yet more casual Italian high-chic and designer angst, and more jealousy and pathos. Is this great and memorable film really about making movies? Or something more profound? We are treated to ravishing entertainments, a bewildering montage of images, including the extraordinarily cynical and mournful demolition of the Catholic Clergy and their role - yet the movie remains for all that strangely elusive. Perhaps it's about Italy, about modernity and the struggle for meaning. Perhaps it's about childhood and it's effect on the adult. Guido is obsessed with memories of the kindness he had from the women who looked after him in a pre-war orphange - but then he's also obviously untroubled and cheerful. Every now and then, the characters break out of their misery and do a little dance to themselves - look out for one of the sexiest moments in cinema when Aimee does this - yet the music track, full of circus and decadence, suggests decay and despair more than light and lively. The real problem with this, as with other Fellini movies, is the lack of guidance. Guido cannot guide us as to meaning, because he does not know himself; and we are supposed to just sit back and absorb the cinematic experience. But we cannot, because like all cinema audiences, we need something more, some revealed truth, which is more than the moment-by-moment shifting sands of Fellini's complex dances with meaning. Magnificent stuff, but ultimately deeply flawed.
The DVD is not particularly great, quality is about the same as taped versions and there are no special features. The subtitles are still sometimes annoyingly invisible against Fellini's startling white backgrounds.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A wonderful montage of dream, memory and fantasy, Fellini's '8 1/2' is a cinephile's dream. As the troubled director 'Guido Anselmi' Mastroianni is again Fellini's screen persona and he turns in a performance worthy of the auteur himself. The film asks us to look in detail at the art of making a film. This self- reflexivity favours character emotion over narrative continuity. The film is the antithesis of contemporary Hollywood production values- if you have seen one explosion or heard one cheesy line too many- then watching this crisp DVD of Fellini's '8 1/2' will remind you what cinema should be about.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How to read the sub-titles
Like many other people, I found the sub-titles extremely difficult to read and had to give up watching the film after a while. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R J Hemingway
great film, but isn't this a region A release only?
I'll start by saying I love this film, I love Fellini and I REALLY want this on Blu-ray but as I have a PS3 it isn't possible because this is a locked region A release and can't... Read more
Published 5 months ago by sam hain
I just can't take these awful subtitles!
Without talking about the film's quality, I'm sure even people who love this film would agree that the film is, probably intentionally, near-enough incoherent as it is. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. M. Mclan
A wonderful movie!!!
The movie is absolutely fantastic!!!!
Who like Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", they will like 8 1/2 I am sure!!! It is my favourite movie in Fellini's movie collection!
Who like Fellini's "La Dolce Vita", they will like 8 1/2 I am sure!!! It is my favourite movie in Fellini's movie collection!
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Sophie
Fellini's Eight-and-a-half is worth Two Stars
This film is a bore.
Stylistically, eight-and-a-half could be seen as a companion piece to - or even the flipside of - La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960). Read more
Stylistically, eight-and-a-half could be seen as a companion piece to - or even the flipside of - La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960). Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2008 by Oliver Twist
Applaud the man with no clear ideas
I have to admit that I didn't fully understand Federico Fellini's 8 ½. I got a little confused with the constant interchange between Guido's dreams, fantasies, memories, and... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2008 by Jenny J.J.I.
La Dolce Cinema
One of the finest feats of cinematic engineering. Gorgeous, complex, fascinating and with mesmerising acting. Simply one of the best made films ever and a credit to Fellini. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2007 by Tobias
Criterion's 2-disc DVD is the one to get
There are several different issues of Fellini's 8½ available, but the quality varies wildly. As others have noted, Nouveaux's PAL disc has almost illegible subtitles and offers a... Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2007 by Trevor Willsmer
A Masterpiece Ruined
I saw this on TV a few months ago and thought it would be great to own on DVD. But, like another reviewer on this site, I gave up after 20 mins as the subtitles are - for the most... Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2007 by M. Hootman
Marvellous film, terrible subtitling
I love this film, but gave up watching this DVD 20 minutes in. The annoyingly large subtitles take up the bottom third of the screen at times blocking much of the picture. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2007 by happenedtobehere
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