8 and a half Frederico Fellini

Frederico Fellini is known for his dreamlike directorial style, and the semi-autobiographical film 8-1/2 is certainly no exception. Fellini paved the way for other fantasy and magical realism films, encouraging the likes of Terry Gilliam and Guillermo del Toro to create their own masterpieces. Like many Fellini films, 8-1/2 is not as much about plot or characterization as it is about visual imagery.

Most Fellini films are about the medium of film itself, but 8-1/2 even more so because it features the interior landscape of the mind of a director named Guido. Guido, who symbolizes Fellini, feels trapped in the mundane world. Several scenes establish how Guido feels about the ordinary workaday world, such as the opening dream sequence in which he is stuck in traffic and a subsequent scene in which he rides in an elevator surrounded by the uncomfortable silence of strangers.

Filmmaking is how Guido (and Fellini, and directors like them) liberate themselves from the confining, constricting aspects of daily life. The art the filmmaker produces is completed as a means of psychic discharge and serves a secondary importance as a means of inspiring the audience to do the same: to go on a journey. The goal of the journey is not just to escape life, but also to rediscover purpose of life. Through film, life becomes more meaningful for Guido, as it would have for Fellini.

In 8-1/2, the director shifts between reality and fantasy, and likewise between the objective world and the subjective world of the director. Fellini is also deft at hiding the seams between these realities, showing how each impacts the other. Dreams and the subconscious have a strong bearing on how people act in their waking life, and the memories and especially the emotions of waking life make their way into dreams. For example, in the opening sequence, the director is stuck in horrible traffic.

Fellini helps the audience feel just as suffocated as he does by placing us inside the vehicle. Instead of showing us Guido’s face, we see only what he sees: the lonely people each trapped inside their vehicles. He starts to have a panic attack and tries to kick open the door to free himself, but cannot. Suddenly he is floating in the sky, soars above a beach where a man rides a horse.

Another man flies a kite, only the kite string is attached to the protagonists’ foot, dragging him down to earth. He plummets, and wakes up from his nightmare. Fellini uses just enough surrealism in the fantasy, dream, and film-within a film sequence to clearly differentiate one from the other without sacrificing the reality that consciousness is fluid. To achieve his goals, Fellini uses a plethora of techniques that are not limited to surrealist imagery. Irony and especially the absurd are hallmarks of his method in 8-1/2.

For example, one of the longest fantasy sequences in the film involves the director dreaming about all the women in his life. They all adore him, lavishing him with praise and attention. At first it seems that only about self-gratification and ego, but as the scene evolves, several themes emerge that connect with the overall message of 8-1/2. For one, the women start to revolt.

Led by one who has been condemned to the upper floor because she is 26—and therefore considered old—the revolt calls into question the director’s sexuality and his ability to lead. He then resorts to literally cracking the whip to restore order to the harem.