Federico Fellini’s Film "8½"
Federico Fellini’s film 8½ is one of the best known in the history of the world cinematography. Released in 1963 as a black and white film, is addresses the issues few film artists have ever dared to choose as the theme of their cinematographic works. It is a famous cinema artist’s and director’s reflection about the cinematographic work of a famous film director, a kind of a confession, with the author’s share of his personal experience going into it. Making such a film requires courage and high levels of professional and human self-awareness, even if the extent of Fellini’s personal experience revealed in the film is never known to the viewing audience or film critics. It takes not only one’s honesty, courage and integrity to take up such an artistic project. Artistic gift and precise technique are needed to convey the message of the film in the way that will be recognized and appreciated by the film viewers.
Federico Fellini proved to be up to the challenge. His 8½ is a classical work of cinematographic avant-garde of the mid-twentieth century that presents an insightful analysis of the human character and nature skillfully using specific cinematographic language.The film has a complex and engaging narrative form; it is non-linear, based on a succession of scenes from the present skillfully combined with flashbacks, memories, fantasies, dreams and reflections. Such a narrative structure enables the author to design an unusual script where the boundary between the real and imagined spaces is blurred to the extent that is, in many cases, hard to define. However, such a complex string of scenes and mise-en-scenes is the best way to tell the audience about the doubts, ups and downs of the creative process, and other challenging aspects of the film director’s work and experience. The first scene of the film is one of the most impressing; it sets the pitch for the entire film’s narrative style. In the protagonist’s nightmarish dream, he seems himself locked inside his car¸ unable to get out of it. Next, Guido Anselmi gets out to the car roof and his magic release takes him up in the sky, in a blissful ascent, which is abruptly and brutally terminated by the pull of the rope tied up to his foot. He is jerked back to reality at the order of the powerful “counselor”, an unfortunate prey of the powerful man.
His falling down from the high altitude, like into an abyss of the sea, reminds of the myth of Icarus’ tragic fall. Back to reality, he finds himself in the clinic examined by the doctor (Fellini). Most other scenes are also transitions from the present to the past or from reality to day-dreaming; some of them are a combination of the real setting with imagined people or events added to it. Such an avant-garde narrative form is compelling and appealing because it is underpinned by the major theme …
