By Stanley Kauffmann (The New Republic)
Translator: csh
The translation was first published in "Iris"
Like most autobiographical works, Federico Fellini's brilliant new work, titled "Eight and a half", reveals something beyond the creator's expectations. July 13). We already know this from the title—to date, Fellini has produced six full-length feature films and contributed three "half" films to three collections. The title told us before we even walked into the theater that he was smart, and that he saw the title as part of his personal history. It also tells us that he found himself having trouble picking up titles. The story of this film focuses on a director who is stuck in a bottleneck when conceiving a story, an artist who is caught in a creative downturn, and who is facing the familiar "Divine Comedy"-style crisis. The director is in a luxurious wellness hotel, trying to sort out the script for his next project. Staying with him was his screenwriter, a typical literary con man, attached to the European film industry, who played both supplicant and ascetic. The director's married lover also came to accompany him, and she stayed at the hotel next door. His producer also came here with his entourage. His wife also came, and she was not deceived by her mistress. One of the best moments in this movie is the scene where he lied to his wife to hide his mistress identity, he looked so earnest and his wife realized it and was sick of it ——This is mainly because he can appear so sincere when he lies——then, the director went a step further and made him realize her "consciousness". He recognizes the gulf between moral myth and moral fact, and then his mind drifts into some sort of harem-like fantasy scenario. There is a lot of fantasy entwined in this work - through memories, reflections, and wish fulfillment, as well as a dreamy woman who keeps recurring throughout the film. After months of hesitant scripting and casting, the director was harassed by producers, urging him to make a final decision. However, the feeling of indifference and burnout made him feel extremely powerless, and he finally decided to give up the film. Then, in further fantasies, he begins to confront all the realities of the past and the present, and then accepts them and decides to make this new film based on what we have witnessed.
In terms of execution, I can't think of a better film than this one. It's pictorial and visual ingenuity, rhythmic subtlety, and ironic humor are all astounding. We see a wizard whose sorcery is at its peak, and if one current report were to be quoted to describe the effect, it would be "Liszt playing Liszt." The film opens with a muted fantasy, the director immersed in the suffocating atmosphere of the car, which is in a traffic jam. He floats up, through the roof of the car into the air, and then we get a view like Dalí's Passion - we look down and see his legs, a kite string attached to them, And a man standing on the beach holding the line in his hand. He fell - and woke up in the hotel bed.
This kind of fantasy, full of amazing imagination, came one after another. In one of the dreams, his dead mother suddenly kisses him passionately, and when she removes her head, she becomes his wife. When his screenwriter quoted too many "wise words", the director raised a finger wearily, and under this "command", two desperadoes suddenly appeared, and they put a sleeve on the screenwriter's head. Wearing a black turban, he was hanged on the spot. When some meaningless phrase reminds him of his childhood, we return to his home - which was spacious and safe for him at the time - in a vat with his brothers Stomping on grapes, then they were washed, taken to bed (they all had clean sheets), and into the arms of the nurse. There's no point in making a list -- we just need to know that these details have rich and powerful effects. Dreams do not fade or seep in, they are also elements inherent in the structure. You may take time to think about whether the scene in front of you is a dream, and this sense of confusion is also part of the structure of the film.
But when we ask what the film is about, what the director has learned from the crisis, or what it means for the final solution, the answers we get may not be so satisfying. He concludes by showing that he has learned to live with the past as he watches the "player" of his life dance in a circus parade. But so far, there has been little sign that he is not "living with the past". This ending seems like a relatively convenient way for the film to end on a happy note. (It's easy to make the argument that his fanciful suicide near the end should be the real ending, which is also a logical conclusion: in reality, this all-or-nothing ending, A fantasy in and of itself.) The real meaning of the film's existence is that it offers Fellini some opportunity—and it's mostly to prove that Fellini is a great filmmaker. Eight and a half shows perhaps more than Fellini had ever considered: it is not about a creative crisis, encounter, or survival, it shows a coherence that exists in his work movement, which was first seen in The Dolce Vita. Since then, Fellini has continued to link method and meaning, in fact, in "The Swingers" (it's always one of my favorites). In Dolce Vita, this strong thematic quality is used primarily as an opportunity rather than as the main focus. And this texture has been strengthened in "Three Yan Xichun". But the moment when it finally bloomed, it still appeared in "Eight and a Half". In presenting this series of observations, I am not trying to damage some work, but to evaluate the process. This masterful work has a set of aesthetics and values of its own, whether it is a coloratura song, an astonishing swirling dance or an intricate painting, and when it is as overwhelming as Fellini's masterpiece, the audience can just as well. Moved by it, it's almost the same effect as when they were moved by art that "said" something. Actually, I don't think "Eight and a Half" "said" much, but it's also a suffocating work. One cannot escape such a work as they cannot escape the best of Bergman and Renoir—the images create a continuous, inner experience. One has to recall them over and over and remember their effects. But it's arguably a no-brainer because the experience is unforgettable.
The film's star roster should include director of photography Gianni Devejkinzo and editor Leo Catozzo, who forged a series of interlocking wonders. Marcelo Mastroianni, who plays the director, injects a certain premonition and existentialism into the role. In "Italian Divorce," he's already proven something that will become apparent in a few years: He's a skilled comedian. In this film, he interweaves this technique with his ability to touch mundane life with serious poetry. Sandra Milo plays another serious, stupid and empty mistress, Anouk Aimee's wife is also convincing, and the rest of the film's massive cast also shows Fellini's other side. One talent: He is able to portray even the tiniest of characters to perfection.
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