Tuesday, November 15, 2011

8 1/2 (1963)



Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is knee-deep in pre-production on his latest films, the only problem is that he has no clue what it's going to be about.

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Though they might claim otherwise, all creative people crave success. If for no other reason than the fact that being successful means you get to continue creating. But as we all know, there is also a dark side to success. It creates anticipation and expectation. It attracts hangers-on and provides plentiful distractions that keep you from creating. Often, success can even cause you to lose touch with the very thing which made you want to create in the first place. Throw in some serious Catholic guilt and a king-sized helping of women troubles, and you have Federico Fellini's mental state after the release of La Dolce Vita. Yet rather than allowing it all to break him,  Fellini instead fashioned this "bella confusione" into one of the greatest films ever made. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

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