Federico Fellini

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Dylan
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#101 Post by Dylan » Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:35 am

I'm eyeing Federico Fellini: Interviews from the Conversations with Filmmakers series that I so enjoy.
Their volumes on Bertolucci, Kubrick, and Polanski are excellent, so I imagine the Fellini one is just as great. If you check it out, I'd be interested in what you think.

As for other books, Peter Bondanella's "The Cinema of Federico Fellini is pretty indispensable for the Fellini fan.

I haven't read it yet, but Tullio Kezich's biography looks very good, too.

I also have an out of print book from the 70s called "Fellini's Faces," which is a large collection of photographs from his archives mainly consisting of people who submitted their faces to his casting office...needless to say, flipping through the book is a lot like watching one of his movies. Well worth picking up if you find it at a used book store.

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Jason
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#102 Post by Jason » Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:24 pm

Dylan wrote:I haven't read it yet, but Tullio Kezich's biography looks very good, too.
The only review up at amzon.com is rather negative.
Tullio Kezich claims to have been a long time friend of Federico Fellini and perhaps that's one of the several reasons this biography is very disappointing.

Kezich approaches his subject as an insider, someone who shared the same social circle and perhaps artistic pretensions. (Kezich is descibed as a film critic, author of numerous boks on cinema and a playwright.)

The book is worshipful of Fellini, talks a lot about parties, drops a lot of names, but gives precious little information about Fellini. What information it does provide reads more like a campaign tract for sainthood. Comments such as "[t]he grief over his death is indescribable" add nothing to our understanding of Fellini as man or artist.

The situation is not helped by Kezich's writing style which, charitably, can only be described as bloated and pretentious. Perhaps the blandness is partly due to translation. Paragraphs run on forever, sentences are often incomplete and reminiscent of a high school student trying really, really hard to be impressive.

Amazingly, for a book about one of the greatest of all film makers, there is not a single photograph. Likewise the author presumes that any one reading the book will remember every detail of Fellini's films, most of which I haven't seen in 30 years or so.

I had hoped for a biography that would lead me into Fellini's life and mind. Instead all I got was a list of parties he went to and some fluffly, adulatory prose about great his movies were. I already knew that --- I wanted to know more about Fellini made such great movies. Not in this book.
If you ever read it yourself, let me know what you think. For now, I'll probably go with Interviews and Bondanella' book. You, sir, are indispensable.

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Fellini-Hexed
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#103 Post by Fellini-Hexed » Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:42 pm

Dylan wrote:I haven't read it yet, but Tullio Kezich's biography looks very good, too.
John Baxter's biography "Fellini" is exhaustive, but perhaps moves in the opposite direction of Kezich's job, if the above review is on the mark. It's hard to think of the man in the adorative light which some of us on this forum (myself included) sometimes dress him up in after having read Baxter's book. Criterion did choose to excerpt it, though, for their Juliet of the Spirits booklet. Definitely worth checking out. Filmography included, but I'm not sure it's as thorough as the one in...

Hollis Alpert's "Fellini: A Biography". It's good, but seemed to me a tad more of a puff job than the Baxter. Is the truth somewhere inbetwixt? Dunno. My copy is a first edition from '86; perhaps the revised edition from '96 is better? It probably just adds a post-Fellini postscript. Contains a detailed filmography, though, including his script work from the 40's, even uncredited and unproduced works.

"Fellini on Fellini" is another must-have; it's still floating around on Amazon and such places. It's full of his own writings. Criterion excerpted his "My Rimini" for their new Amarcord booklet. One piece details some of his favourite writers, most of which he adopted after his first masterpieces were made (post La Dolce Vita at least).

Not exactly in the same vein, Taschen has a lovely coffee table book called, surprise: Fellini. For some reason, Taschen decided to get the decidedly un-Fellini-friendly Chris Wiegand to write the text of the thing, otherwise filled with gorgeous photos, most of which were totally new to me.

I second Dylan's nod towards "I, Fellini". Great book.

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Jason
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#104 Post by Jason » Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:49 pm

John Baxter's biography "Fellini" is exhaustive, but perhaps moves in the opposite direction of Kezich's job, if the above review is on the mark.
I really, really enjoyed Baxter's biography of Kubrick. I'll definitly check out anything he wrote about any director I love. Glad to hear he has a Fellini book.

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Dylan
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#105 Post by Dylan » Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:17 pm

Yes, the only review of the Kezich at Amazon is negative, but I still think it sounds very good, and I more than often disagree with Amazon reviewers about film books. I'll check it out one of these days, not sure when though.

I haven't read the Baxter biography, but I will track it down per your recommendation. It can be found for practically nothing, and it sounds fascinating.
Contains a detailed filmography, though, including his script work from the 40's, even uncredited and unproduced works.
I'm sure that's very useful. Does it contain a synopsis of the unproduced work?

And I second "Fellini on Fellini," an amazing book.

I also must mention Tazio Secchiaroli's book of photographs taken on the set of "8 1/2," which is a beautiful volume.

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Fellini-Hexed
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#106 Post by Fellini-Hexed » Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:14 pm

Dylan wrote:Yes, the only review of the Kezich at Amazon is negative, but I still think it sounds very good, and I more than often disagree with Amazon reviewers about film books. I'll check it out one of these days, not sure when though.
Contains a detailed filmography, though, including his script work from the 40's, even uncredited and unproduced works.
I'm sure that's very useful. Does it contain a synopsis of the unproduced work?
Nope, unfortunately there are no synopses, Dylan. And the title is (oops) Fellini: A life. Sorry about that. There's a bibliography, too, though it ends (in my edition) in '86, of course.

And yes, I'd be inclined to check out the Kezich biography, too. The half-hour doc on "I Vitelloni" has Kezich detailing Fellini's metamorphosis into a suspicious, slightly paranoid, and a tad too self-obsessed old artist. His love for the man is supreme, of course, but he laments, in that interview, the loss of the younger, jubilant and more social Fellini. So it's hard to believe that the whole of his book is an adulatory paean. Or some such.

I'm a Kubrick neophyte, Jason, so haven't checked out anything about the man yet.

Thanks for the 8 1/2 photo book heads up, Dylan.

planetjake

#107 Post by planetjake » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:29 pm


David Ehrenstein
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#108 Post by David Ehrenstein » Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:27 pm

Fellini made so many masterpeices in the early part of his career (The White Shiek, I Vittelloni, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, Toby Dammit) it's rather churlish to expect more. A kind of calm drifts over the later part of his career, exemplified by Amarcord (his last big critical and public success.) Still there are shards of brilliance in Roma (the Papal fashion show) and Casanova and City of Women are the best films ever made about impotence.

I'm especially fond of City of Women which should be shown as a double feature with Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.

The Voice of the Moon is remarkable for Fellini stretching himself into the world of another writer. It's also Roberto Benigni's most relaxed (and therefore digestible) performance.

planetjake

#109 Post by planetjake » Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:16 am

David Ehrenstein wrote:The Voice of the Moon is remarkable for Fellini stretching himself into the world of another writer. It's also Roberto Benigni's most relaxed (and therefore digestible) performance.
La Voce Della Luna may just be my favorite Fellini.

But still, if nothing else, Ginger e Fred deserves to be presented in its OAR.

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Cobz
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#110 Post by Cobz » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:16 am

For any Fellini fans in the UK, "FOPP" is selling the Infinity Arthouse box set of Fellinis 3 late works - "And the Ship Sails On","Ginger and Fred" and "Orchestra Rehearsal" for the shockingly cheap price of £15

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#111 Post by ByMarkClark.com » Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:27 pm

Can anyone recommend a biography of Fellini? (I already have I, FELLINI.)
David Ehrenstein wrote:I'm especially fond of City of Women which should be shown as a double feature with Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.
LOL! Why not with QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE?

atcolomb
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#112 Post by atcolomb » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:21 pm

How about this double feature....Ginger and Fred with Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams....... :D

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Michael
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Federico Fellini

#113 Post by Michael » Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:33 am

Federico Fellini 1920 - 1993

Image


FILMOGRAPHY

Luci del varieta / Variety Lights (1950) - Criterion

Lo sceicco bianco / The White Sheik (1952) - Criterion

I vitelloni (1953) - Criterion / Image

L' amore in citta / Love in the City ("Un agenzia matrimoniale" segment, 1953) - Minerva (region 2)

La strada (1954) - Criterion

Il bidone (1955) - Image / BFI (region 2)

Le notti di Cabiria / Nights of Cabiria (1957) - Criterion

La dolce vita (1960) - Koch Lorber / Medusa (region 2)

Boccaccio '70 ("Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio" segment, 1962) - NoShame

8 1/2 (1963) - Criterion

Giulietta degli spiriti / Juliet of the Spirits (1965) - Criterion

Histoires extraordinaires / Spirits of the Dead ("Toby Dammit" segment, 1968) - HVE

Fellini Satyricon (1969) - MGM

I clowns (1971)

Roma (1972) - MGM

Amarcord (1973) - Criterion

Il casanova di Federico Fellini / Fellini's Casanova (1976) - Carlotta / Freemantle (region 0)

Prova d'orchestra / Orchestra Rehearsal (1978) - Fox Lorber / Infinity (region 2)

La citta delle donne / City of Women (1980) - New Yorker

E la nave va / And The Ship Sails On (1983) - Criterion / Infinity (region 2)

Ginger e Fred / Ginger and Fred (1986) - Warner / Infinity (region 2)

Intervista (1987) - Koch Lorber

La voce della luna / The Voice of the Moon (1990)


FORUM DISCUSSION

Federico Fellini

Il Bidone


WEB RESOURCES

Wikipedia

Fellini Foundation - in Italian

Turner Classic Movies

Senses of Cinema

Senses of Cinema / Roma

Strictly Film School

Fellini's artworks/drawings

Images and Archetypes

Excerpt from Fellini: A Life

Bright Lights Film Journal - Interview

Bright Lights Film Journal / Orchestra Rehearsal

Vassar Kids Do Fellini

Felliniana

Fellini's Grave

Fellini Ungrateful Celebration - Commemorates the 10th Anniversary of Fellini's Death


BOOKS

Federico Fellini: Interviews - edited by Bert Cardullo

Fellini as Auteur - by John C. Stubbs

Fellini on Fellini - by Federico Fellini and Isabel Quigley

Federico Fellini - by Christopher Wiegand

The Cinema of Federico Fellini - by Peter Bondanella

The Cinema of Federico Fellini - by Peter Bondanella

Fellini! - by Vincenzo Mollica

Fellini 8 1/2 by Tazio Secchiaroli (Te Neues Publishing Company)

I, Fellini by Charlotte Chandler (Cooper Square Press)

I'm a Born Liar: A Fellini Lexicon by Damian Pettigrew

Federico Fellini: Contemporary Perspectives (Toronto Italian Studies) by Frank Burke and Marguerite R. Waller (University of Toronto Press)

Fellini: Costumes and Fashion by Ida Panicelli, Giulia Mafai, Laura Delli Colli, Samuele Mazza (Charta)

8 1/2 edited by Charles Affron (Rutgers University Press)

La Strada edited by Peter Bondanella and Manuela Gieri (Rutgers University Press)


DVD

Ciao, Federico! - documentary about the filming of Saytricon directed by Gideon Bachman / Tristar Columbia/Gaumont

L'ultima sequenza - documentary about 8 1/2's lost ending / Instituto Luce (region 2)

The Magic of Fellini - directed by Carmen Piccini / Image

I'm a Born Liar - directed by Damian Pettigrew / First Look

jdcopp
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#114 Post by jdcopp » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:29 pm

In November of 1965, Cahiers du Cinema (Page 15) published a short interview with Federico Fellini on the subject of comic strips -- fumetti in Italian. Fellini had worked in comic strips before he began his film career. One revelation of the interview was that Fellini was a fan of "Charley Brown" and "B C". Among other things, Fellini had this to say:
The fumetti which borrow too freely from cinematic technique are for me the least beautiful, the least artistic.I remain sentimentally attached to the very simple, linear fumetti which are nearly always humorous. It was cinema which borrowed from them. Some settings of Chaplin, some characters, frame in a medium long shot, are truly borrowed from George McManus and his "Bringing up Father" and from the adventures of the "Katzenjammer Kids". The fumetti which merit popularity are those which inspired the cinema and not those which borrowed too skillfully from it.

When I went to present 8 1/2 in America, I was convinced that a film such as it, so personal, so Latin, with very specifically psychological conditions, determined by a certain culture and society could not be understood by the American public. I observed the contrary with amazement. I observed this in a theater on Broadway with a disparate audience who were accustomed to the tricks of the great directors. I found a theater full of Blacks, teddy boys, delinquents, and some others stay awake all night. I watched my film in the of this offbeat public and the film was followed with much interest and pleasure. This is thanks to the fumetti with no possible doubt.The American is habituated from childhood to accustomed a sense of the humorous and marvelous. Now, 8 1/2 partakes truly in these notions of the surreal, the humorous and the fantastic.
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Klaus Capra
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La Voce Della Luna

#115 Post by Klaus Capra » Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:31 am

I noticed some of you have a copy of La Voce Della Luna, or at least had the opportunity of seeing it. I've always wanted to see it, and some of the comments on the board made me a lot more anxious about it. Currently, there is no way to find a copy of it, not even Ebay. Does anyone know of any online stores that have this in stock, or is this just flat out of print with everyone? I guess my last option would be watching it online.. has anyone been able to do that?

Klaus

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Dylan
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#116 Post by Dylan » Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:55 am

I'm really surprised that nobody has bothered to release an English-subtitled version of Voice of the Moon yet. It's certainly (still!) the only Fellini I haven't seen. Does anybody know who owns the US or UK rights?

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tavernier
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#117 Post by tavernier » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:30 am

It was never released in the U.S., amazingly. I saw it at Film Forum during its Fellini retro in '93, and I have the Italian disc, which looks wonderful but of course has no English subs.

It would seem a no-brainer for CC or MOC, one would think.

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Der Müde Tod
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#118 Post by Der Müde Tod » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:16 pm

I saw the Voice of the Moon when it came out in Germany in the early 90s a few times. While it is very much "Fellini", the nagging introspection of 8 1/2 or Amarcord has become much more relaxed. I enjoyed it tremendously, and a DVD would of course be most welcome.

PimpPanda
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#119 Post by PimpPanda » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:14 pm

I downloaded it, and I think it may be my favourite of Fellini's later films (but I have still haven't seen Amarcord and a few others somehow).

Klaus Capra
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:25 pm

#120 Post by Klaus Capra » Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:36 am

Really? Unfortunately I've only been able to see clips of it on YouTube, which just make me wish that I could see the whole thing. Do you remember where you found it for download?

Klaus

planetjake

#121 Post by planetjake » Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:29 am

It pops up on Bittorrent now and again... English subtitles are also fairly easy to come by.

PimpPanda
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#122 Post by PimpPanda » Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:38 pm

Klaus Capra wrote:Unfortunately I've only been able to see clips of it on YouTube, which just make me wish that I could see the whole thing. Do you remember where you found it for download?
eMule.

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tavernier
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#123 Post by tavernier » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:26 pm

A restored Toby Dammit showing at the Tribeca Film Fest in April:
A gorgeous new restoration-supervised by its cinematographer, Giuseppe Rotunno-of Fellini's adaptation of a Poe short story has Terence Stamp as a British celeb struggling through a haze of booze and drugs to make sense of the paparazzi and produttore who welcome him to Rome. Presented by Taormina Film Fest.

Klaus Capra
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:25 pm

Finally.

#124 Post by Klaus Capra » Tue May 06, 2008 4:59 pm

Just ordered a sealed all region Greek copy of La Voce Della Luna from Ebay. Still no subtitles. But, fortunately, I speak Italian fluently.. though I am scared of Benigni's crazy Neapolitan accent.

I think the guy selling them still has a few left.
Last edited by Klaus Capra on Wed May 07, 2008 6:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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otis
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#125 Post by otis » Tue May 06, 2008 5:18 pm

Benigni is Tuscan, not Neapolitan. Perhaps you're confusing him with Massimo Troisi. Still pretty scary though.

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