I Vitelloni (1953)

Title: I Vitelloni (1953)

Director: Federico Fellini

Review:

There comes a time in life when the teenage years have been left behind and the mid twenties start to roll in. Somewhere along this time the inevitable question must be made: "what am I going to do with my life?" College years have passed and you’ve done your fair share of hanging out with your buddies and partying. But the party has to end at some point! Life is not only made up of bar hopping and pool tables. One must take responsibility for ones own life at some point. And if you are an intelligent person, you will undoubtedly come to the conclusion that you must take some sort of path that will lead you to becoming a self reliant human being in this world. You can’t live in your parent’s basement all your life now can you? And if you are to get married, you need a way to support yourself and your family. And so the existential conundrum arises. What am I here for? What am I to do with my life? Should I follow my dreams? Get a job? Get married? Have kids? These are the questions and themes addressed in Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni.

The Vitellonis wondering what awaits them out there in the world

I Vitelloni is about a group of friends who have grown up together in the same Italian town since they were little. The Italian town of Rimini. They all know and support each other. They go everywhere together and together they go through happiness and tragedy. They are a bunch of slackers actually. Not one of them has a job! They are all talented in their own ways, but none of them has a steady job. One is a singer, one is a writer, one is a womanizer…speaking of the womanizer, his name is Fausto and because of his actions the unity of the group is suddenly threatened when he realizes he has gotten a young girl pregnant. Should Fausto run away, ignoring his responsibilities? Or should he marry this girl, get a job and become a father? Will any of the Vitelloni’s ever do something with their lives?

Chilling out after a hard night of partying!

I enjoyed this movie because it reminded me of my friends, during those years when we all used to hang out till 5 in the morning roaming the streets of San Juan, searching for the next big adventure. We were a tight group, and we still keep in touch, but I guess just like in Fellini’s I Vitelloni, the group must always break up. Some follow their new loves, some follow their dreams, some get jobs, some get married and become parents. I’m guessing that anyone can watch this movie and see him or herself in any of the characters on this film. I saw myself in the writer, always looking for a way to “make it big” with his next script or play. I guess that was the character that represented Fellini the most as well. But in all honesty, I think all these characters have a little bit of Fellini in them. This movie was his personal favorite, and it mirrored a lot of his own personal experiences growing up in the 50’s in Italy.

Listening to the latest hip tune

Like many of Fellini’s films (including 8 ½ and La Dolce Vita) we have a character who is a womanizer, always looking for the next girl he can get intimate with. On 8 ½ we had Guido struggling to juggle all the romances in his life. The question in that one was the same as in I Vitelloni, should you keep screwing around with every girl that strikes your fancy? Or should you settle down with that girl that really loves you? Those amazing scenes of Guido battling with all the women in his life on 8 ½ come to mind. And a similar situation happens in this film as well, where Fausto cant stop screwing around with every girl that strikes his fancy. He even goes after his boss’s wife! I loved how the movie explores the negative results of living this kind of lifestyle.

Fausto, a womanizer to the very end

But while womanizing is seen in a negative light on this film, marriage isn’t shown to be the happiest thing either. In I Vitelloni, Fausto is forced into marriage with Sandra because he has gotten her pregnant. He isn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of marriage, but does it out of respect to his father and the girl he is marrying. This is a theme that pops up in a lot of Fellini’s movies as well, the terror of living the married life. If we are to deduce what Fellini thought of marriage by what we see in his films, then being married was the same as being a prisoner in chains to Fellini. I Vitelloni is ambiguous when it comes to the theme of marriage because while marriage is seen as something frightening, at the same time the sweet love Fausto feels for his wife is also explored; that tenderness that can only come from the true love in his life, the love that a one night stand cannot give you. Like many of Fellini’s films, this movie has some truly tender moments where we feel real emotion and love emanating from the characters on screen. Fausto, for all his womanizing really does love Sandra, and it shows when he sees her crying and he just can’t take it. He immediately comforts her and tells her how much he hates to see her cry. A truly emotional moment! Only Fellini could do a scene as heartfelt as that one!

To drunk to walk after a night at the masquerade ball

One pivotal scene in the film takes place during a masquerade ball. This is one scene in which Fellini really out did himself. Hundreds of extras, the art direction grand and superb, confetti falling through the whole sequence as people sing and dance the night away. This is another type of scene that Fellini loved including in his films, life bursting in every square inch of the screen. People talking, dancing, drinking, laughing, partying…life happening. These guys may be slackers, but they sure find a way to enjoy life and be happy none the less! After the big ball, one of the characters called Alberto gets a little bit too drunk, almost to the point where he can’t even walk to his own home. So some friends accompany him on his way. During this walk, Alberto is obsessed with talking about how they are nobodies. And who are they? Once again, the film addresses its main themes. Who are we, and why aren’t we somebody in the world?

Strangely enough, even though the five main characters are slackers who prefer a game of pool to getting a dead end salesman job, we end up liking them anyways. After all, they are all in that strange place in life we all arrive in at some point. The proverbial crossroads, where our lives will ultimately take a change for the better or the worse, presumably for the best. We all try and “make it” and eventually have to cut from the safety that a group like the Vitelloni’s can provide. In the film, one of the guys actually does leave the small town of Rimini, but the question remains in the air: will you be happy where you are going? Weren’t you happy here? Will you be happy by simply changing your surroundings? Or is it up to us to be happy, no matter where we are? Truth is, no matter how much your life changes or what turns it takes, that “gang” of friends always remains a special memory in our lives. Fellini did a good job of capturing that, and thanks to him, we can remember what it was like hanging out with our own respective Vitelloni’s.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Title: Nights of Cabiria (1957)

Director: Federico Fellini

Cast: Gulietta Masina, Francois Perier, Franca Marzi

In Rob Marshall’s recent tribute to Fellini and his films, Nine (2009) the main character of the film (who is a film director) is constantly reminded how everyone preferred his older films. Everyone tells him they love his “hits” before his films got all “weird”. As I continue watching all of Fellini’s films, I kind of see where this comment is stemming from. I find that the further back I go in Fellini’s filmology, the better his movies get. But this is also the case in many directors’ repertoires; their earlier work is their best. Don’t know if this is the case with Fellini because I’ve yet to see more of his earlier films as well as the ones he did near the end of his illustrious career. But as it turns out, Nights of Cabiria, his sixth film has turned out to be one of my personal favorites.

A lover of films lives for that day when he or she watches that true masterpiece. That film that shakes your emotions and makes you feel; reminding you that you are alive. These films are out there, it’s just that sometimes it takes us a while to get to them. But when we finally find them, you feel like the search was worth it. Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria is one of these special films. It’s such a powerful and moving experience! I must admit, it brought tears to my eyes! I wasn’t alone in letting the old waterworks flow either, its just such a heart wrenching film.

Gulietta Masina (Fellini’s wife) plays Cabiria, a prostitute working the streets of Italy. She is a happy jolly spirit in spite of the kind of life she lives. She is extremely poor, lives in the smallest little house in the middle of nowhere. She has to face men who do not appreciate who she is and are only looking to take advantage of her. But, she seems used to it and continues with her life even though she is not contempt with her current state of affairs. She is looking for a change; a way to leave the prostitute lifestyle behind. Will she ever do it? Will she ever find true love and leave it all behind?

The oldest Fellini film I have seen was La Strada (1954) also starring the great Gulietta Masina. In that film she also plays a poverty stricken individual looking for a way out. She ends up working for Zampano, an abusive man looking for a woman to be his slave. In La Strada Masina managed to make you care for her character through her portrayal of a charismatic and naive woman searching for happiness in this cruel world. I was just as moved by Nights of Cabiria and Gulietta Masina’s performance as I was by La Strada because Nights of Cabiria is similar to La Strada because its also about a good hearted woman in search for happiness even though life constantly denies it from her. For some reason, earlier Fellini films went more toward sentimental side of things, looking to pull your heart strings. As he progressed, his films got more existential, darker, and at times surreal. But his earlier work? Pure emotion! This film won the Academy Award in 1957 for best foreign film. And it won Gulietta Masina the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival that very same year. I consider it an important film in Fellini’s career because it’s sort of a transitional film between the sentimental films of his past like La Strada and the more socially conscious and personal films that came after like La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2.

One of the things that makes this movie so special is Gulietta Masina performance as Cabiria. This is one of cinemas most memorable and endearing characters. Fellini makes you fall in love with her because she is such a saint amongst sinners. She is a feisty spirit, but one gets the impression that this feistiness is just a façade she puts on as a way of protecting herself from the evil in the world. Truth be told, she is a very sweet soul and if you dig deep enough, her beauty as a human being emerges. She is happy go lucky, naïve and innocent. It’s no wonder life always ends up slapping her in the face. This naiveté goes in direct contrast with her profession as a prostitute. She “lives the life” as someone says in the film, yet she looks like a little girl, dresses in an awkward fashion and is small in stature. She is most of the time dancing, smiling and excited. Always looking at the lighter side of things even though she lives in pure poverty, yet she has got a sadness inside that she prefers to hide. And this is where the movie just grabs me. I’m a sucker for movies with poverty stricken characters. These films always get to me. And this is one of them, right up there in poverty with Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp. These are characters that are so poor, so desperate, that you cant help feeling sorry for them. One look at Gulietta Masina’s performance and there’s no doubt that theres some Chaplin in there. She’s got clownish movements and moves at times as if she was dancing to music, which doesn’t surprise because Fellini used to film his movies with music in the background. It’s one of the reasons why most of his films were dubbed.

Speaking of the movies themes, this one is all about Cabiria’s search for happiness. She is a character looking for change, a way out of poverty and prostitution. She doesn’t want to end up like her older prostitute friends; old and living in a cave or underneath a bridge. The movie makes a daring comment for the times it was made. Considering this movie was made in the ultra conservative 50’s and in Italy where Catholicism reigns supreme; I was surprised to see this movie bashing on religion so openly. But this theme was always a recurring one in many of Fellini’s films. He later revisited religion in La Dolce Vita. But on Nights of Cabiria, the main character learns a valuable lesson about relying on yourself to make things change in your life and not in some invisible magical force that’s supposed to make everything okay. The movie asks the question: Does praying really change or solve anything? Is anyone really listening out there?

As a Fellini film, this one has many of his trademarks. This one reminded me a lot of La Dolce Vita and Amarcord. We get Fellini’s trademark scenes of Italian nightlife, bursting with energy and people. Fellini loves doing this, suddenly, the streets are filled with cars, lots of people talking at the same time, people riding in motorcycles, people fighting, dancing, getting on cars and driving off. You know; lots of life. It also has the religious angle, with a whole procession of desperate people pleading to their deities for help. Crying to statues and effigies, all the while the main character watches and observes. He did this in La Dolce Vita as well, with Marcello Mastroiani in the middle of a bogus apparition of the Virgin Mary. On this film Cabiria walks into a magic show, a restaurant with exotic dancers and he even ends the movie with a parade of music same as in 8 ½. Fellini, just like any good director, liked to revisit certain key images and themes in his films; Cabiria was no exception.

In conclusion, Id like to let you guys and gals out there know that this is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. It makes you truly care for its main character, to the point where you don’t want anything to happen to her. You actually fear for her at one point. Its amazing! I never thought a movie could make me care so much for a fictional character, but Nights of Cabiria did. After you watch it, it leaves a lasting impression on you. You will care for these characters and their lives. You will talk about them long after you see the film, and you will be reminded once again why you love movies.

Rating: 5 out of 5

 

Nine (2009)

Title: Nine (2009)

Director: Rob Marshall

Cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Fergi, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren

Review:

Fellini’s 8 ½ is all about a film director who is struggling with the fact that he has producers breathing down his neck, waiting for him to produce his next film. Problem is that Guido never really knows exactly what film he wants to make. He is struggling between the idea of making the film he wants to make, and making a commercial film that will make money for the producers. In between all the madness that accompanies making a film, Guido Anselmi must struggle with all the women in his life. His wife, his mistresses, his lovers and the complications that accompany them. The film was Fellini’s semi-autobiographical explorations of what it meant be him. Juggling so many responsibilities at the same time. In the end, Fellini comes to the conclusion that life is just one big circus and that we all form part of it.

The one, the only 8 1/2

NINE, the new film by the director of Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha -Rob Marshall- is essentially a remake of Fellini’s 8 ½. It’s also about a director struggling to make his next picture. The directors name is also Guido, only this time his name is Guido Contini, not Anselmi. And basically, NINE goes step by step through the most important moments seen in 8 ½, but in the form of a musical. NINE is also based on a broadway show of the same name. So NINE is really a film based on a broadway show that was based on a film. And same as it happens with a copy of a copy of a copy…this film is a bit lifeless and distant when compared to what is considered by many to be Fellini’s best film.

What this film does basically is, aside from adding a musical number for each female we encounter in Guido’s life, is update the ideas that Fellini presented us with in his films. You see, Fellini was a very macho kind of guy. He was the center of the universe in his films. Guido Anselmi from 8 ½ is a mirror image of who Fellini was. Guido Anselmi (as played by one Marcello Mastroiani) has always been seen by more then one movie buff as Fellini’s alter ego. The obvious reference to himself is of course that the films main character is a film director. Thing is that in 8 ½, Guido is the center of the universe. He is famous, everybody needs his opinion, everybody needs to interview him, talk to him, and everything needs his approval first. Same with his women, they all desire him, they all want to be with him, and they all need him. And, Fellini had no problem with depicting Guido as a womanizer, with women being treated as sex objects. Beautiful sexy bombshells, that Guido simply loves from an aesthetic point of view.

All through out the course of his career, Fellini worshiped the beauty in women for he always chose the most beautiful women on the planet for his films. But men always treated women as something less in his films. In Fellini’s films men are unfaithful, they despise married life or commitment, they love to have fun, and not be tied down. They never wanted to live that boring married life at home. Fellini’s men were always free spirits with no emotional attachments. Free to go and come as they please. Many film critics and buffs (myself included) always criticize Fellini’s sexist view of women. What NINE does is, it says, “this is wrong, women cannot be treated as sex objects, they need to be loved for who they are, not for their physical beauty alone”. This can be seen in more then one scene on NINE, but the one I noticed most prominently was the one with Nicole Kidman, playing the role that Anita Eckberg played in La Dolce Vita. That of Sylvia, the bombshell actress who Guido whisks away to that magical iconic fountain in Italy. In La Dolce Vita, that scene has Guido falling deftly in love with Sylvia, wooing her, saying beautiful things about her, making her feel like a goddess because she is simply so stunningly beautiful. On this film, Nicole Kidman says “I’m not that woman” and walks away from Guido. Leaving him alone. As if Nicole Kidman’s character was saying “We know we are beautiful and all, but nobody loves a chauvinist pig!”

This film has elements from many of Fellini’s films. It’s not just a remake of 8 ½, this film also has scenes taken from La Dolce Vita, Amarcord and even Nights in Cabiria. It’s like Rob Marshall took some of the most Iconic moments from many of Fellini’s films and updated them with new songs, strung them together and called it a movie. Problem is that the film feels like a series of sketches or musical numbers, and not a movie. I mean, yeah, there’s that main storyline, but the film unfortunately takes no time in fleshing out its female characters and instead rushes its way to the next musical number. It’s like "Hi; I’m the new girl we are going to be talking about…and this is my song!" And that’s it. I really didn’t like that about the film. I mean, the musical numbers are fine, the songs are sometimes catchy (loved that Cinema Italiano song) but as a whole, the film doesn’t feel together.

It certainly does lack something. I think it needed to flesh out its female characters more since in essence, they are as much a center of the film as is Guido. I never felt like I knew these women walking before us. They are simply to be admired for their beauty. In many ways, this film contradicts itself. In one way its saying “love women for who they are not what they look like” but then it presents us with shallow empty female characters whom we never get to really know, so what’s left? Simply to admire their beauty and their song and dance. It certainly is a plus to have so many beautiful actresses on one film. But they are paraded around like trophies instead of tangible characters with life. With the possible exception of Marion Cotillard who actually made an effort to act, the rest of the female performances felt more like quick phoned in cameos then anything else, specially Kate Hudsons sequence. I loved the song she portrays, but shes in and out of the movie in the blink of an eye and your not even sure she was really even needed in the film except to add that song to the film. Even Daniel Day Lewis, who normally wows me with his performances was kind of dry here. In my opinion, they needed an actor who was a tad more dashing then Daniel Day Lewis. Rob Marshall’s original choice of Javier Bardem would have worked better, but he backed down due to exhaustion. Heck, even Antonio Bandera’s would have worked better.

This is not the worst film ever made, but the problem for me with it was that it’s coming from such great inspirational material, that the result should have somehow been better elaborated. Even the art direction was lack luster at times. Most of the songs take place in a stage, not a location, not a cool set, but a stage. I was expecting something grand for the big fountain sequence with Nicole Kidman, something that at least lived up to the memory of that awesome sequence in La Dolce Vita, but what we get is this silly looking little fountain. Nothing that came even remotely close to the great work of art we saw on Fellini’s film.

So why is this movie tanking at the box office? Well, my main hypothesis is that Fellini is a well known director amongst movie buffs and critics, but he isn’t a house hold name. He isn’t somebody that everyone knows about, and for that matter, neither is his film 8 ½. An awesome film, but a film that not everyone will be able to watch from start to finish. Fellini fans are a knowledgeable bunch; they aren’t your regular everyday movie goers. Problem is that NINE was made for the regular everyday movie goer, and these are the people who will enjoy this movie the least! This movie will be enjoyed by fans of Fellini, and that’s it. Nobody else will understand why the film takes place in Italy, why it takes place during the 60s or what films are being referenced, they will simply be disappointed and lost, which is what I’m thinking is happening right now with the abysmal Box Office Performance this film is having. Even with all its stars, it was not able to pull audiences in.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5