Federico Fellini’s 1963 masterpiece is a self-referential comedy about a famous Italian film director who — caught up in storms of business, extramarital affairs, and an existential crisis — finds himself incapable of finishing his latest film and remaining faithful to his exasperated wife. These failures cause him angst over past failures (which appear in symbolic dreams and feverish flashbacks) and frustration toward powers that have failed him (the church, the film industry). Your first viewing of 8 1/2 is a singular experience of a man’s haunted memories; but then your second reveals the film to be far more than you remembered, inviting you to future viewings and an ever-changing relationship with its mysteries.
—Jeffrey Overstreet
Arts & Faith Lists:
2015 Top 25 Films on Memory — #20