Life and Dreams
By Mo Shah

There are few compliments directors around the globe would relish more deeply today, than for some notable figure in the industry to brand their work with that clichéd of all clichéd descriptions in modern filmdom; “Felliniesque.” Of course this recent addition to the lexicon of the English language is attributed to master Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, who is considered to be, without question, one of the finest luminaries in the history of the medium. The name Fellini is itself synonymous with the attributes of transporting cinematic experiences: visionary, artistic, chic, surreal, entertaining, transcendental, personal, epic, original, and unforgettable. Fellini introduced a nouveau-chic to cinema, the likes of which had been missing in the medium since its inception. In the process, Fellini influenced legions of future international filmmakers with his singular, surreal vision. And for that, as moviegoers, we are forever in his debt.

Born in Rimini, Italy, 1920, Fellini absconded from home at age twelve to join the circus. Later, he entered college with the sole intention of avoiding the draft for WW II. During the war he worked as a writer, radio sketch artist, caricaturist, and as a storyline contributor for a few forgettable comedies in the burgeoning Italian film industry. His career began to take off when he began collaborating with then-unknown director, Roberto Rossellini. Rossellini had a simple idea to shoot a film about the shooting of a local Italian priest by the Germans. Fellini's screenwriting prowess however, propelled this seemingly straightforward project into one of the most critically acclaimed works of the 1940s. Roma, Citta' Aperta became a hallmark of Italian neorealism and ushered in an Italian, if not global, filmmaking renaissance.

	Interview with Fellini
	Great documentary on Fellini

Propelled by his success with Roma, Fellini completed another screenplay for Rossellini, this time called Il Miricolo. This was where Fellini's singular perspective began to take shape, and his signature motifs of parties, the sea, crowds and the entertainment industry began to surface onscreen. This was also the film that showcased Fellini's preference to use archetypical character-types such as movie stars, voluptuous bombshells, directors, business men and religious figures. Religious figures in fact, underscored an obsession of Fellini's; the ability to capture the tenuous relationship between religion, spirituality, and morality. He finally began directing his own films in 1950 with Luci del Varieta, a film that married his neorealistic screenplays with the surreal atmospheres envisaged in his mind.

Needless to say, his early directorial efforts were unqualified successes. He had a knack for handpicking very able actors for various roles, and his taste in beautiful women is apparent in almost every feature film he completed. His signature actresses were voluptuous and exotic with strong minded sensibilities - and sultry film-noire personas. His first masterpiece, I Vitteloni, came in 1953, and won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Hot on its heels, Fellini completed the epic La Strada in 1954, a film that garnered not just another Silver Lion for its director, but the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Picture. La Strada also launched his wife and star Giulietta Masina (whom he met and married earlier during a Rosselini film) to international stardom.

It would probably go beyond the space and scope of this article to provide a complete listing and rationale behind each and ever award Fellini had procured throughout his life, but suffice it to say, there remains an entire room in his house devoted to such trinkets - and it Is bursting at the seems. Instead, let's look at two of Fellini's most important works, La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. Both of these films starred Fellini's alter-ego on screen, the debonair Marcello Mastroianni - a man who almost reinvented what it meant to be hip in the early 1960s. Mastroianni was the rebel sophisticate - the antithesis of James Dean and Marlon Brando. Yet with his chiseled face, sophisticated demeanor and dark glasses, he was still a non-conformist. Mastroianni would, has, and always will be a lust object for both conventional and unconventional women (and men) everywhere. He also happened to be a remarkable actor with incredible screen presence, leaving a visceral impact with the viewer long after the screen faded. Only Fellini could handpick an actor of Mastroianni's caliber and cool. Both these films harked to the future of Fellini's endeavors; films that would be surreal and dream-like, while still retaining strong, almost muscular, storylines.

La Dolce Vita (1960): La Dolce Vita, known for its uber-chic style, substance and sexuality, marked a professional inflection point for Fellini, establishing him firmly as the most prominent and celebrated filmmaker of International art-house cinema. The story revolves around tabloid journalist Marcello's (played by Mastroianni) daily experiences with the international glitterati. Fellini used this setting as a launching pad to mine through Italian decadence, as well as the seedy underbelly of celebrity. But alas, Fellini being Fellini, the storyboard alone is not at the center of the film - the sumptuous yet thoughtful widescreen visuals provide a non-stop battery on the viewer from opening to credits. The film opens with a statue of Christ being flown over Rome, and closes with a majestic, therapeutic beach scene. In the center of the film lies perhaps one of cinema's most striking visuals; Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi fountain. From classy bisexual prostitutes to murderous ultra-sophisticates, this is a film that pushed many boundaries upon release. It catapulted Marcello Mastroianni into global superstardom and cemented Fellini as the world's leading figure in groundbreaking cinema.

8 1/2 (1963): Following the unprecedented success of La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini was cast in a dilemma regarding what the hell to do next? In a stroke of genius, he decided to fashion his next masterpiece around the very conflict he was faced with. So, the title of his next film became 8 1/2, named shrewdly after the fact that this would be his eighth film (plus a couple of shorts he did early in his career, hence the extra 1/2!). Linear narrative is tossed completely out of the window here, and Guido's (played to pitch perfect perfection by Marcello Mastroianni) very real case of directors-block is juxtaposed almost seamlessly with his not-so-real dreams, fantasies, fears and memories. Hence, the moviegoer is never sure of what is real and unreal; where fact begins and fallacy ends. Employing this fluid, yet hyperkinetic, storytelling style enables 8 1/2 to explore the artistic process from start to finish without any clear trajectory. That just happens to be the artistic process - no clear path or consistency; no rules. Ironically, it is the very turmoil that the director Guido in 8 1/2 faces that allowed Fellini to enjoy the greatest critical acclaim of his career. 8 1/2 represents the pinnacle of a life that already rests firmly in the very peaks of cinema.

Fellini went on to helm many successful projects during his fifty year career. He continued to garner award after prestigious award right up till his death in 1993 at age 73, a day after his fiftieth wedding anniversary. Fellini has not only left an indelible mark in world cinema, but in the art-world itself. He took a medium which had evolved under the auspice of certain unspoken rules, and shattered them with every subsequent film he made. He rewrote the rules of modern filmmaking with a vigor and wit that have rarely been equaled, and he introduced a method of independent filmmaking that suavely reimagined what it meant to marry substance with style.