Highly Overrated But Still Good

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies. 8½ will definitely please viewers that are fans of slow movies and black and white and general and believe me there's some terrific black and white movies alongside terrific films who are somewhere around 2 and 3 hours long it's just that this film ain't one of those films. I found myself not being invested to any of the characters, the dialogue was pretty bad and the acting not too far behind and overall it's not a film that really deserves to be on this list guys i'm sorry. (0/10)

Federico Fellini gets Marcello Mastroianni to play him. Yes. Right? Of course. The artistic block is something that Fellini dealt with all his life - Orson Welles once said that Fellini was a great artist with very little to say - that's part of Mastroianni/Fellini's block - He knows where he wants to go but he doesn't know if he has what it takes to get there - then of course the the distractions or excuses whatever you prefer, they are muses, mothers, loves, wives. I was overwhelmed by the access Fellini provides to his own heart and mind and by the audacity and poetry of the film. 8 1/2 stands alone in the virtual mausoleum of world cinema.

I found this film to be an emotional roller-coaster ride. Many things are being said about the opening sequence. Terry Gilliam claims it to be the most important film sequence in his life, and I can see why. Like the overture of an opera, it captures all the conflict and all the drama that is laid out through the rest of the film. It grabs you and will not let you go anymore.It wasn't possible for me to sit through the first viewing, because I was too repulsed by all the sociable chatter in the first half of the film. I got the point Fellini wanted to make (I think), but I still couldn't take it. But the opening sequence was so incredible, that I decided to continue watching the film where I had last stopped. What I got was like a hot and cold shower.Alternating between the chaos and the madness that Guido's life is, and calm, isolated settings, the film comes at us like waves. In his more introspect moments, Guido is usually talking to a female character, and it is here that his visions and his demons are revealed to us. The way he opens up to his sister beneath the spaceship scaffolding reminds of the struggle of an artist who tries to create something personal which he beliefs will not only lift himself above everything, but others, too. His more stable sister just laughs at his pathos and self-pity.We also meet him as the egocentric, irresponsible character that he is. He discards women that do not physically attract him anymore with the strictness of a World War II general. Claudia Cardinale, his muse, confronts him with the sobering fact that he does not know how to love.It all culminates in a press conference that Guido is forced to attend because his producer is putting the pressure on him. Facing the whirlwind of questions from the reporters, and having no answers, he decides to escape by crawling beneath the table and shoot himself. Whether it is fantasy or reality, we don't know, and it doesn't seem important. The movie ends on an up because Guido somehow manages to find a way out of his isolation and to embrace the people, characters and collaborators that accompany and form his life.A very personal film. I think the opening sequence will be a good indicator whether you will relate to it or not.

Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is a famed film director struggling with his next film. His high-maintenance wife Luisa (Anouk Aimée) comes to visit him at the quiet spa town. He is haunted by surreal dreams, memories, fantasies, and the many women of his life. Claudia (Claudia Cardinale) is his movie starlet. He flails to film a sci-fi movie building giant scaffoldings for a grand scene.This is a wondrously imaginative rambling mess. Fellini is indulging in some self-examinations. Marcello Mastroianni is sophistication personified. I've seen this a couple of times. As a plot, I want him to get the film made. It's frustrating to keep going on detours getting nowhere in the filming. As individual vignettes, they are great to be dissected. There are some terrific surrealism. Taken as a whole, it left me in awe, dizzy, confused and a little frustrated.