Dir. Federico Fellini
1963 | 138 mins | Italy, France
Italian

£6* tickets for Italian Cultural Association Exeter

SHOWING TIMES:

• Sun 26 Nov: 5.20pm

Italian Cultural Association Exeter present Federico Fellini’s portrait of the film director as harried ringmaster and unreliable dreamer, spinning gold from his memories and fantasies.

Struggling with the big-budget follow-up to his recent hit, Guido Anselmi (Mastroianni) – clearly the director’s alter ego – retreats into a realm of reminiscence, anxiety and fantasy that reflects his feelings both about the film folk constantly pestering him and about the various women in his life: his wife (Aimée), his mistress (Milo) and an idealised actress (Cardinale). Gianni Di Venanzo’s striking black-and-white camerawork blends realist observation with an evocation of Guido’s inner dreamworld, Mastroianni manages to invest the self-centred protagonist with charm and a degree of dignity, and Nino Rota’s score succeeds in bringing coherence to the chaotically freewheeling circus that is Guido’s daily routine. Creative block rarely resulted in such feverish invention.

+ Introduction from Italian Cultural Association Exeter

BBC Culture | Is Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 the coolest film ever made?

VENUE: EXETER PHOENIX, STUDIO 74

*Subject to a £1.50 ticketing system charge. We don’t charge this to make a profit. Find out more >>